I Remember Your Name
by babylerms
Summary: What would it be like if Rachel met Quinn when she was Lucy? One day Lucy is being bullied and Rachel comes to her defense and a friendship forms from there and...maybe more
1. Chapter 1

**Hey new faberry story review and let me know what you think. I already have more written for it so the next update shouldn't take too long if people are interested .**

**I thought this was a really good idea but that could just be me.**

"Hey tubby, shouldn't you be drooling outside the cafeteria waiting for lunch to be ready?" Stacey said as she slammed the girl's locker shut. The other girl pushed her glasses up nervously even though they were already up.

"Umm…I…" She struggled to find words to say.

"Have you ever heard of a rhetorical question, fatty?" Amanda asked with a sneer on her face when she tried to answer Stacey's question.

Rachel had heard the scene, since the locker was slammed bringing her out of her daydream of singing on Broadway. She was indignant because of the way she saw the girl being treated. She stormed over just as Amanda stopped speaking and decided to answer the girl's question.

"I'm sure she does know what rhetorical means considering all the reading she does and unlike you and Stacey she's probably not failing almost all of her classes besides gym." Rachel said standing straight as she looked the taller girl in the eye. Amanda opened her mouth to offer some other rude remark when a boy came down the hallway running and pulled the girl's hair while laughing. She and Stacey started chasing after him.

The two girls left behind watched the scene like a movie not entirely sure what just took place. After a few moments the girl said, "Thanks," as she turned back to her locker.

"You're welcome even though I'm not sure I actually accomplished anything." Rachel said.

"You noticed and you tried." The girl stopped to think for a second. "No one else ever has." She turned and looked at Rachel and her breath caught in her throat as how cute the girl was. A blush crept across her cheeks. "I'm Lucy."

"Nice to meet you." For Lucy for once someone sounded genuine when they said that. "I'm Rachel." Rachel stuck out her hand a wide smile on her face. It made Lucy smile in return as she shook the shorter girl's hand. She turned back to her locker.

"How…how did you know I read a lot?"

"I've noticed you before in study hall, at lunch, after school on the bleachers. You always have your nose in some book. I've wanted to go over and talk to you for some time but I just haven't. You seem…" Rachel searched for the right word. It wasn't often it didn't just come to her. And Lucy held her breath. It wasn't often anyone used a positive adjective when describing her. "Intriguing." Rachel finished and it left a small smile on the other girl's face. Intriguing could be a good thing.

"I'm sure there are other intriguing people. Why me?" Lucy asked. She didn't mean for this conversation to be so serious and deep but she had to know. No one was interested in her. She had to have some indication that this girl was being honest besides the desperate desire inside of her that begged for it to be true. If it was a game she'd rather know now and get it over with.

Rachel looked at the other girl. She couldn't tell her that it was a just feeling she had, as if she was being pulled towards Lucy. That might scare the other girl away and Rachel didn't really have many friends to begin with so she settled for, "You seem kind and more approachable and less intimidating since you're usually alone and you seem like you could use a friend like I do."

Lucy practically snorted at that. "How do you not have friends? You're so…" Pretty she wanted to say but stopped herself. "Kind." She finished instead.

Rachel shrugged. "I'm insanely talented. One day I'm going to be a big star on Broadway and I think people are jealous of that so they dislike me for it. It's not my fault I'm going to be more famous than them and make more money." She stated bluntly not in a condescending way but just as pure fact. Lucy smiled at the other girl's confidence and wished she had some of it.

"Well then, I'd like to be your friend." She said and Rachel smiled so wide her face practically split in half.

"My dad is picking me up in ten minutes. You want to come over?" Rachel asked.

Lucy had never been invited over anyone else's house before. "Yeah I'd like that."

"Hmmm favorite N'Sync song?" Rachel said running out of questions to ask. She and Lucy had been going back and forth for about two hours.

"Ummm I Drive Myself Crazy."

Rachel was about to ask why when she was interrupted by her dad. "Rachel, dinner is in fifteen minutes. Is your friend staying?" He called from downstairs.

Rachel sat up quickly on her bed and looked at Lucy who was still lying down.

"Will you stay?" Rachel asked her eyes bright and excited.

Lucy got up much slower and looked down at the watch on her wrist. "I can't. My parents want me home for dinner." In her head she added 'So they can monitor what I eat so I don't get any fatter.'

"Oh." Rachel sounded dejected but perked up when Lucy said they would see each other the next day in school.

"I better get going." Lucy said and stood.

"Aren't you going to call your parents to come and get you?" Rachel asked concerned.

"No, I'm going to walk."

"One of my dads can drive you." Rachel offered.

"That's okay. It's not dark yet."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked not liking the idea of Lucy walking home alone. In her head she pictured all the things that could go wrong, being robbed, being kidnapped, drive-by shooting, alien abduction, she stopped before it got any weirder.

"I'm sure. I'll be fine." Lucy offered her a reassuring smile.

"Fine but give me your cellphone. You have to text me when you get home or else I'll assume you were kidnapped or that you died." She said completely serious.

Lucy just laughed.

The girls' friendship took off quickly. They went from not talking at all to talking every day. Lucy was hesitant at first about trusting Rachel, as she always was with people, but Rachel entered the relationship with complete reckless abandon and Lucy found it hard not to get caught up in the whirlwind that was Rachel Berry. She found herself telling things to Rachel she thought she would never be able to tell anyone let alone ever want to admit voluntarily.

Rachel talked about her dreams of making it on Broadway and Lucy admitted that the first time she heard Rachel sing via Myspace video she cried at how beautiful the brunette's voice was which made Rachel's eyes fill with tears at the sincerity and depth of the compliment.

Lucy talked of her parents' perfectionism and how she didn't fit the expectations the Fabrays had. Her sister, Franny, did. She was skinny, smart, sociable and had a respectable boyfriend whose parents were close friends of the Fabrays. They all went to church together. Lucy was the black sheep of the family. She was shy. At church functions she barely talked to anyone and would try to sneak away to a quiet corner so she could read.

At school Lucy was still bullied but much less when Rachel was around. Kids tend to pick on someone when they are alone and at school every moment they could be Rachel and Lucy were together. They would still call Lucy names but Rachel yelling back at them made it less fun.

Lucy told her one day that the brunette was like a small dog, maybe a yorkie. She was yappy, all bark and no bite. Lucy thought this was adorable. The other kids thought it was annoying, definitely more trouble than it was worth to make fun of Lucy. Rachel's longwinded rambles about why bullying was wrong blah blah blah (this is what they heard when she started talking) and who knows what else gave some of the boys headaches and they would just walk away rather than have to listen to it. Lucy beamed whenever Rachel chased away the other kids.

As the days passed Lucy began to feel something she hadn't since she was younger, happy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all who read and reviewed I got alot of positive response so I decided to post the second chapter. Now that you're hooked let me know if it's worth continuing :)**

It was the girls' first sleepover together. It was both of their first sleepovers period. Lucy stood outside of Rachel's house with her backpack slung over her shoulder and her sleeping bag tucked under her arm. She reached to ring the doorbell but her hand stopped short of actually pushing the button. She retracted her arm and took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She took a quick look behind her. Her father was already long gone not waiting to see if she got into the house safely. She sighed and thought of Rachel. Rachel seemed as if she actually cared about Lucy and that thought made a warm feeling spread through the girl's chest because no one cared about Lucy. As these thoughts took over her mind her hand reached out of its own accord. Her fingers were inches from the doorbell when the door swung open and a beaming brunette stood on the other side.

"My dads said they saw your father drop you off a couple minutes ago and I was trying to be polite and wait until you knocked or rang the doorbell so I could answer it but you were taking a while and I wanted to make sure you were alright and…" At this point it seemed like the direction Rachel's ramble was going switched directions, "Are you alright?" She finished a slightly concerned and nervous look in her eyes. She wanted Lucy to be all right. She wanted this sleepover to happen so badly.

"I'm fine. I was just…" Lucy moved her hands around in a gesture that didn't really signify anything but she couldn't find the words.

"It's okay. I just thought maybe you wouldn't show." Rachel admitted sheepishly.

"Of course I did. I thought maybe you didn't want me to anymore." Lucy said and Rachel looked at her with such wide-eyed astonishment at the thought that Lucy couldn't help but laugh.

"I wanted you to obviously."

"Obviously." Lucy agreed.

"What's that for?" Rachel asked nodding her head towards the sleeping bag still tucked tightly under Lucy's arm.

"Sleeping. I didn't know if you'd have extra blankets and stuff for me to set up on the couch or floor or wherever so I came prepared because it would be rude not to be prepared and pretty presumptuous of me and now I sound like you." Lucy finished when she finally got her nervous ramblings under control.

"Oh." Rachel said in thought. "Well you won't need it and your not sleeping on the couch or floor. You're sleeping in my bed."

"Where are you sleeping?" Lucy asked confused.

"In my bed." Rachel stated not sure why this was so perplexing to the other girl.

"Oh." Was all Lucy could manage to say at that.

Rachel turned around. "Come on I picked out a bunch of movies for you to choose from."

Later both girls lay in Rachel's bed both staring up at the ceiling unable to fall asleep.

"I like your dads." Lucy said into the silence. She reflected on how she had heard them singing as they cooked dinner. As they ate, the banter flowed easily between them and they talked to Rachel with so much care in their voices even as they asked mundane questions like 'how was your day'. They seemed…happy. Lucy had never seen a family be genuinely happy. Hers was only like that when they had guests and had to act.

"They are pretty great." Rachel agreed with admiration in her eyes for the two men. "But they can be embarrassing at times." She added referring to after dinner when they pulled out a video of two-year old Rachel running around naked. Her face blushed at the memory from earlier that night.

"At least they care." Lucy said quietly.

Rachel turned her head to look at her. "Your parents don't?"

Lucy laughed humorlessly at that. "I think my parents wish I had never been born. I'm a blemish on the pristine Fabray record. They rarely talk to me anyway. You know your dads asking how my day was was the first time anyone has in years. At dinner they focus on my dad's and my sister's accomplishments as my mom sings their praises." She said with unconcealed bitterness. "Most of the time it's like I don't exist except when they offer me some criticism or disapproving look. Sometimes…sometimes _I_ wish I had never been born." Lucy finished in a quiet voice closing her eyes.

"I'm really glad you were. You're my best friend."  
"We haven't even known each other that long." Lucy said. It was difficult for her to accept compliments of any kind.

"Time is relative."

Lucy opened her eyes and looked at Rachel. "What does that even mean?"  
"I don't really know but it sounded fitting." They looked at each other and then both girls laughed. After Rachel continued. "I don't think time matters. I feel closer to you than I ever have to anyone before and I know you feel the same because you open up and tell me these things and that makes me feel incredibly special that you trust me enough to share them." Rachel paused for a moment in thought. "Do you believe in fate?" She continued.

"I've never really thought about it." Lucy admitted.

"I do. I think by the laws of fate we were meant to meet and be in each others' lives. And if it means anything I care about you."

"It means everything. You're honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"And more to come." Rachel smiled contentedly.

"I think we should try and get some sleep." Lucy said.

"Mhmm." Rachel said and yawned suddenly sleepy at the suggestion.

Lucy grabbed one of the pillows she had been using and put it between Rachel's and her bodies.

"What is that? A body buffer?" Rachel asked her feelings slightly hurt.

"I cuddle at night with a pillow. I can't…I can't sleep if I don't." Lucy admitted a blush spreading across her cheeks in the darkness. 'Maybe it's because I'm lacking being shown affection… or maybe I should've thought of this before I accepted the invite to sleep over.' She thought to herself.

Rachel grabbed the pillow and put it back in its original position and turned on her side. "You can cuddle with me. I bet ten bucks I'm more comfortable than some pillow."

Lucy looked at the brunette's back and thought nervously. "I don't…" She started but stopped unsure how to finish.

"I don't mind." Rachel stated simply and yawned again.

Lucy turned on her side and placed a stiff arm around Rachel's waist. She could feel the smaller girl breathing and gradually she relaxed.

"Better than a pillow?" Rachel asked sleepily as she reached up and entwined their fingers.

"Much."

The next morning when Lucy woke up she didn't know where she was. She did know that there was another person in bed with her, half draped over her body to be exact and the realization came to her. She had slept over Rachel's house in Rachel's bed with Rachel. She looked down at the brunette on top of her. She looked beautiful when she slept. All of sudden she clung to Lucy tighter and then woke up with a start. She picked up her head and looked at the girl she had been using as a pillow. "I was having a good dream that ended very badly." She said as an explanation. "And I guess I'm a cuddler too." She added as she disentangled herself from Lucy and sprang up from the bed. "But in my defense you're very comfy. Let's go see what daddy cooked for breakfast." She finished and practically skipped out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**so it's been a while since i updated this story and i just want to let people know i haven't ditched it. i just can't write in order. i have stuff written for it just nothing that could've came next. then i wrote this :). if people are still waiting for this then i hope you like it. as always thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and alerted and all that good stuff. also i have some oneshots for faberry in the process but i'm not making any statements about when those might be posted just giving a heads up if you're interested. so ****enjoy (it's an order).**

After the sleepover, Rachel and Lucy became inseparable. Every waking moment they could they were together and when they weren't together there was a constant stream of texts and phone calls that kept them connected. Lucy even joined Rachel's ballet class so they could spend even more time together. That one took some persuasion on Rachel's part.

"But I can't dance." Lucy insisted when Rachel suggested she join.

"Everyone can dance." Rachel countered.

"Not me. I don't know how."

"That's what the class is for. They'll teach you."

"I'll be behind. Everyone will be better than me."

"Trust me no in that class is that good except for me of course but no one can compare to me." Rachel said and fluttered her eyelashes at Lucy which earned her a beautiful laugh in return.

"Fine."

"Fine?" Rachel questioned disbelievingly.

"It'll make you happy to have me there?" Lucy asked uncertainly.

Rachel nodded her head eagerly.

"Then I'll join."

Rachel squealed with delight and threw her arms around her best friend.

"We have class tomorrow. We'll have to get you the appropriate clothing for it. I'll have my daddy drive us to the mall." Lucy groaned inwardly. She hated clothes shopping. The clothes themselves were beautiful but nothing looked good on her.

After several painful hours walking around the mall in Lima, Lucy had what Rachel deemed both an "appropriate and cute" outfit for ballet. While it certainly looked appropriate to Lucy she wouldn't consider anything she wore cute. It wasn't the clothes' fault. It was her body's.

She spent a sleepless night tossing and turning in her bed worrying about what the next day would bring. The one time she did doze off she had an awful nightmare. She entered the ballet classroom and was easily double the size of any of the other students. As she moved she knocked over all the bars and smashed all the mirrors. She couldn't control her limbs and all the students and the teacher cowered in fear in a corner, even Rachel. She woke up in a cold sweat and reached for her phone. She thought about calling the brunette but stopped herself when she saw it was three in the morning.

The next day at school the nerves were apparent to Rachel although Lucy tried to hide them. During their study period Rachel suggested they sneak out to the football field. Lucy didn't ask why. Rachel wasn't one to skip any classes even a study so she instantly agreed.

"You really don't have to come today if you don't want to." Rachel said once they settled themselves under the bleachers.

"I think I want to. I'm just scared"

"Of what?"

"Really Rachel? You see how the kids treat me at school. What if it's the same thing? And I can't hide like at school behind books and in the back of the class."

"I'll be right there by your side. And if I recall I too get made fun of but the kids in ballet are different. They're focused on themselves and dancing. And I'll be there." Rachel reminded her again. She smiled and grabbed Lucy's hand.

"I like that part."

"I think you'll end up liking the whole experience. Ballet is really fun."

"I don't think I'm coordinated." Lucy admitted.

"You won't know until you try."

"Yeah."

Rachel leaned her head against Lucy's shoulder. "Did I make you feel any better?" She asked unsure.

"Just being near you makes me feel better." Lucy said and pink tinted her cheeks and Rachel, well her smile practically split her face. "Will you read to me?"

"Of course." Lucy pulled out the book they were currently in the middle of and began. Rachel sighed and closed her eyes content to listen.

As they neared the end of the study period Lucy finished up the chapter she was on and put her book away. Rachel finally opened up her eyes and smiled at the other girl.

"Someday you're going to fall asleep like that."

"Nope. I can picture it better with my eyes closed. I get to that point where I'm half in between asleep and awake and it feels like the story's real. Your voice just wraps me up and takes me there." Lucy could feel heat rush her face at the comment and the butterflies in her stomach started going berserk. What was this girl doing to her?

Lucy's next class was US history and she didn't share this one with Rachel and for once since she met the brunette she was glad for the distance. She needed time to think, time uninterrupted, time where she wouldn't get distracted by the way the girl's hair shimmered when the sun hit it or where Rachel would turn around and give her a goofy smile. Lucy shook her head away from those thoughts. She needed to think.

She was straight obviously. She was a good Christian girl, an avid churchgoer. She liked boys. She just hadn't liked any she met because they were jerks. She was waiting for the right boy, a good boy. She didn't like Rachel. Rachel was a girl and Lucy was no lesbian. She was normal.

Then why did her heart race whenever she was about to see the girl? Why did she get butterflies whenever the girl said something nice about her? It was because no one had ever said anything nice about her, Lucy rationalized. She didn't know what it was like to have a friend. That's all this was, friendship. Maybe that's how it started she wondered even though there was that hidden part in her mind telling her that wasn't right, that what she felt for Rachel wasn't simply friendship but Lucy refused to give in to that part. She wasn't gay. She couldn't be.

Ballet class went well. Lucy caught on fast and found out she was more coordinated and graceful than she could've ever hoped. The instructor would walk by and tell her good job and Lucy beamed. Rachel watched with a proud look.

"That was so much fun." Lucy gushed after it was over. "I had fun and now I'm kind of tired but I feel good. Maybe it'll help me lose weight and I won't be so fat." She pondered and Rachel opened her mouth to say Lucy was perfect the way she was but Lucy cut her off. "I know what you're going to say. I'm fine the way I am but more exercise means I'll be healthier." She rephrased and Rachel couldn't argue with the fact that exercise did indeed make you healthier.

"That's not why I wanted you to join you know." Rachel wanted to clarify.

"I know." And Lucy really believed that.

"I just wanted to introduce you to something new and okay I wanted to spend more time with you." She smiled at the taller girl.

"I know, Rach. You don't have to explain yourself." Rachel's heart all but melted at the use of the nickname. "So Nathan's cute." Lucy stated.

"What?" Rachel asked confused. They had never talked about boys before. She supposed other girls their age did but Rachel was fourteen and she had known for two whole years that she was interested in girls. She figured growing up with two gay dads helped her admit this to herself more easily. She and Lucy were friends but Rachel would be lying if she said she didn't have feelings that were a bit more than friendly for the girl. She had never really thought about Lucy's sexuality. She just knew Lucy seemed as in to her as she was in to Lucy. Besides Lucy had never talked about boys before but maybe Rachel had read the whole thing wrong. She decided to go along with the conversation anyway. She didn't want to lose Lucy as a friend.

"Yeah he is pretty cute."

It was the response Lucy thought she wanted, it was the one she had been fishing for, but she couldn't help the little pang of jealousy that she felt.

"Yeah." Lucy said and the conversation ended at that, neither girl sure how to continue it since neither girl really thought Nathan was cute or thought about him at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**thanks everyone who read this and reviewed/favorited/alerted or whatever :). let me know what you think of this next chapter. **

"Dad, daddy, how do you know if someone is gay?" Rachel asked her fathers one night at dinner.

"Sweetie, we've known you were gay since you were five. You couldn't keep your eyes off the receptionist at the doctor's office. When we left you told us you were going to marry her someday." Leroy explained trying to take some pressure off his daughter as she came out. He knew how difficult it could be.

"Not me." Rachel smiled at the memory they shared that she couldn't recall. "Although it's good to know you already know about my sexual orientation and accept it. I'm asking how you know if someone else is gay not yourself."

"So then you're talking about Lucy?" Hiram asked a twinkle in his eyes.

"No, no not at all." Rachel didn't want to out Lucy even if she wasn't sure Lucy was gay. "I'm speaking hypothetically. How do you know if someone is gay?"

"Can we at least specify girl or boy? Because boys are pretty flamboyant and that's how you know." Leroy stated and Hiram smacked him on the shoulder.

"That's not true. That's a stereotype." He glared at his husband.

"I'm just kidding. It's hard to know if someone is gay unless they say it or are dating someone of the same sex. You can't really assume about people."

"If they flirt with you, that's a sign, although again it's hard to tell with girls the difference between flirty and friendly."

"If they ask you out but make sure they clarify that it's a date or it might just be a friendly get together."

Both men sat there trying to think. When it seemed like they had nothing else to say Rachel spoke.

"So basically you don't know until they make it really obvious."

"I guess," Hiram shrugged his shoulder, "people are tricky."

"And complicated." Leroy added.

Rachel was a bit frustrated. This had not been helpful. She decided to try a different approach. "How did you guys know the other was gay?" She watched as her fathers got simultaneous dreamy expressions on their faces. They looked at each other.

"You start." Hiram smiled at Leroy.

"We were in college and I was tech on the play. It was after rehearsal and your father and a couple other people from the play were still there as I was leaving. Honey, your father was capital G…A…Y and you can't even deny it." Leroy turned his eyes to his husband.

"Okay I was pretty flamboyant but that's just me. Anyway your dad assumed I was gay because of that."

"And I asked around if people knew or had any idea if he might be gay."

"And he asked me out after the play was over."

"After staring at him in rehearsal for months." Leroy interrupted again.

"And that's how I knew he was gay." Hiram finished.

"And he said yes so he confirmed my suspicions."

Rachel smiled at the story happy for her fathers but it still didn't help her and they could tell.

"I know that didn't really help you, Rachel, but everyone is unique. Being gay, even admitting it to yourself, can be a hard thing. You just have to wait and see and let things happen on their own time." Leroy explained.

"Sorry honey. But if you were hypothetically talking about Lucy I would say it's apparent she cares about you. I can't say whether she's gay or straight or bisexual or what but she does like you. You can tell by the way she looks at you and just is around you."

Rachel's heart sped up at this explanation. "You really think so?" She asked in a small voice.

"Sweetheart, we know." Leroy said and Rachel sighed in relief. After dinner she ran up to her room and dialed Lucy's number.

Across town Lucy lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She had been like that for hours. Would it be so bad if she were gay? Her parents would disown her and kick her out but Lucy was convinced that they would find any excuse however little to do that. She thought about what she would be losing, her family that didn't really love her anyway, and her home, which seemed at the time more important. She would be homeless. Maybe Rachel would let her live with her. Rachel. What if she lost Rachel? She knew Rachel's dads were gay obviously so the girl was accepting and okay with it but what if it was different because Lucy was her friend. What if Rachel wasn't gay and Lucy being gay made her uncomfortable? What if Rachel thought they hadn't really been friends at all and it was just Lucy having a schoolgirl crush? What if Rachel didn't want to be friends anymore? The what ifs were driving Lucy crazy.

She tried to calm down and think about she could possible gain, a new home with the Berrys, a loving one and maybe Rachel would feel the same. Lucy knew the girl liked her but was it just friendly? She decided she would tell Rachel. Either way knowing would be better than torturing herself. Just as she picked up her phone to call the brunette her phone started vibrating in her hand. It was Rachel calling her. She smiled at the timing. They were so in sync.

"Hey, Rach."

"Hello, Lucy." Silence settled over them. Both girls wanted to tell the other how they felt but were too nervous to start.

"Rachel, I…" Lucy started and her heart started to race and her palms became sweaty. What if she came out and her parents found out and the Berrys didn't want her living with them? What if Rachel rejected her? What if she really became homeless? Had all those thoughts she had just had been fantasy? Lucy knew from experience that things never worked out the way she expected them. That just wasn't her life. So she decided that no she couldn't tell this girl, the only friend she had ever had, the only person who ever seemed to care about her. She wouldn't risk it, wouldn't ruin it. "I think I have a crush on Nathan." She finished sounding dejected rather than giddy like a girl with a crush should sound.

"Oh." Rachel's heart deflated at the admission. What did her dads know anyway, apparently nothing about girls. "That's nice, Lucy. He seems sweet and he's a pretty good dancer." 'I'm better' Rachel thought.

At the next ballet class Rachel found herself staring at Nathan. What did Lucy see in him anyway? He was a _boy_. Rachel tried not to cringe at the word as she thought it. Maybe he was cute in the traditional sense but Rachel couldn't see it. She looked over at Lucy who like most times appeared to be in her own world, which made Rachel smile. She was focused on her dance moves and Rachel had to admit the taller girl might even have been better than she herself. Rachel found she wasn't jealous at all at this thought. Had it been provoked by any of the other students she most definitely would have been. She was proud, proud Lucy was doing so well and enjoying herself and proud she had introduced the girl to it. Then she thought about Nathan again and was sad that Lucy didn't feel that way about her. She turned her eyes back toward the boy to start her glaring again.

As Rachel and Lucy exited the room to head to the car, a red-headed girl stood in their way and blocked them. They recognized her from ballet class but didn't know her name. She crossed her arms on her chest and stared at Rachel.

"Why were you staring at my boyfriend?" She questioned.

"Excuse me?" Rachel was confused. Who was this girl?

"My boyfriend. You were staring at him." The girl said again this time in statement form. Rachel looked to Lucy for help but she shrugged helplessly just as lost.

"And your boyfriend is…?" Rachel asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, shrimp. Nathan, my boyfriend. You were staring at him all class." Realization washed over Rachel's face and Lucy watched confused. Why was Rachel staring at Nathan? Maybe Lucy talking about him had made the brunette notice him and develop a crush. Her gut twisted in jealousy.

"I was just checking out his technique. He is one of the only boys in class and I wanted to see if theirs differed from us girls'." She lied hoping the girl wouldn't push it. Rachel didn't like to lie although if she had to she took it as another opportunity to practice her acting skills.

The redhead slit her eyes at Rachel judging her response. She decided to accept it for now. "Fine. But I better not catch you staring at him again. For any reason. Clear?"

"Yes absolutely. Crystal clear." Rachel answered wanting out of this confrontation. The other girl stalked off.

"Was that really why you were staring at him?" Lucy asked when the other girl was out of earshot.

"Partly and because you like him. I'm trying to study him to see if he's good enough for you."

Lucy blushed at how protective Rachel was of her. "Well you don't have to worry. He already has a girlfriend. Besides if he's with her he has bad taste and I need someone better than that."

"Yes you do." Rachel agreed and looped her arm through Lucy's as they exited the building.

Later that night Lucy lay in Rachel's bed staring at the ceiling. The brunette's body was draped across Lucy's and she had one arm around the smaller girl's back. She traced slow soothing circles trying not to disturb the girl who was already deep in sleep. She could feel the girl breathing.

Lucy was gay. She could no longer deny it to herself. She wasn't waiting for the right boy. There was no right boy. There was a right girl and she was right there in her arms. Each time she had tried to tell Rachel and backed out made her feel worse. She felt like a liar and a coward and she didn't want to be like that anymore. She wanted to be strong and brave. She wanted to be someone who deserved Rachel. She needed to tell the girl right away. She needed to tell her now.

Lucy pondered the best way to wake her best friend. She stilled her hand.

"Rachel." She leaned closer and whispered in the other girl's ear. "Rach, wake up. I have to tell you something." The girl grumbled something unintelligible and grabbed tighter to Lucy as if she would protect her from the big bad noise. Lucy found this infinitely adorable. "Rachel, please." She said pleadingly and shook the brunette's shoulder softly. When the other girl finally opened her eyes, Lucy was met with a sight she hoped to see again, a sleepy and confused Rachel who looked lost and just so cute. Her heart warmed at the sight and she forgot for a second why she had woken Rachel in the first place.

"Time to get up already?" Rachel asked her voice thick with sleep and the confusion evident.

"No, not yet but I have something I have to tell you."

Rachel became fully awake at the words Lucy spoke and slightly panicked expression on her face. Rachel sat up and faced the other girl.

"Oh…okay, you can tell me anything."

"I know. I really believe that. I feel like I can trust you with anything but I just get so scared and I panic. I don't want to anymore. I want to be honest even if it means losing you as my best friend."

Rachel's heart practically stopped at that phrase. Why would Lucy lose her? Unless Lucy was about to tell her how uncomfortable she was with their friendship. Oh my god, did she know Rachel was gay? Did she not want to be friends anymore because of it? Rachel became embarrassed. She had just been sleeping on top of the other girl obviously Lucy knew and was uncomfortable.

"Okay." She said in a small voice.

"Rach, I'm…" Lucy faltered. She had been looking at Rachel but found it impossible to say the words while doing so. She looked down and started playing with the comforter. "I'm gay." She finished and closed her eyes, waiting for the yelling and the inevitable moment when the other girl would kick her out.

"Oh." Rachel expelled with the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "That's all?" She smiled and nudged Lucy with her foot hoping she would look back up at her.

"Yeah?" Lucy's eyebrow raised in confusion. "That's all." She confirmed meeting Rachel's amused eyes.

"You're gay." Rachel said liking how it sounded. "I am too." She confessed.

"Oh." Lucy said mimicking Rachel, which caused the brunette to laugh, which caused Lucy to laugh because the sound was just too magical to not join in on.

"What about Nathan?" Rachel questioned an entertained look on her face. She already suspected why Lucy had done that now.

"I wanted to tell you on the phone but I chickened out and that made me want to hide it more. So I said I liked Nathan to throw you off."

"I understand."

"You do?" Lucy asked a bit skeptically.

"Coming out is hard. I can't imagine what it would be like with the upbringing you had." Lucy's face all but turned green at the thought of her family finding out. Her father…he would absolutely kill her and Lucy wasn't sure she meant that in a figurative way.

"They can't know." Lucy stated.

"I know." Rachel said. "But you're not alone anymore." She motioned for Lucy to lie back down and Rachel laid back half on top of her returning to her position from earlier. She yawned once. "It's not just your secret anymore. It's ours."

_Ours, _Lucy thought and her whole body grew warm.


	5. Chapter 5

**hey hope everyone is enjoying their halloweekend :) here is a slightly festive update for you guys. thanks everyone who read and reviewed and followed and alerted and all that and as always leave lots of ****reviews so i know what you guys are thinking :)**

"So what are you going to be for Halloween?" Rachel asked one night as she and Lucy watched Halloweentown in her basement, and Lucy quirked her signature eyebrow arch.

"I'm not dressing up."

"Oh yes you are."

"Why would I?" Lucy challenged.

"Because I am." Rachel smiled smugly, knowing that would be a good enough reason for Lucy.

"And what are we doing all-dressed up?"

"I promised my aunt and uncle I would take my cousin, Freddie, trick-or-treating and I thought maybe you would join me?" Rachel finished shyly and slightly blushed. For all her confidence earlier, she still felt a little nervous asking Lucy to do something out of the ordinary with her. When Lucy didn't answer immediately, the brunette began to do _her_ signature ramble. "I know it's not exciting, like the party Stacey's throwing..."

"As if we were invited," Lucy interrupted, "I wouldn't go anyway. I'd much rather go with you to take your cousin trick-or-treating." She smiled widely at Rachel as the brunette squealed in delight

"Yay and we can get candy and come home and watch scary movies and gorge ourselves on our candy."

"I'm with you on all that except the gorging ourselves on candy part. I don't need any extra pounds. It's going to be hard enough to find a costume to make a fat girl not look ridiculous." Lucy looked at the television not able to meet Rachel's eyes when talking about her weight.

"Stop that. You're beautiful." Rachel said reaching out and laying her hand over Lucy's.

"I'm not." Lucy countered still unable to meet Rachel's eyes.

"You are." She tilted Lucy's face up to meet her eyes. When the girl's reluctant hazel ones finally met her warm brown ones she repeated, conviction in her voice. "You are."

Lucy felt the warmth from Rachel's eyes spread throughout her body. She wanted to kiss the girl. Of course she had thought about it before, but she had never wanted to feel the other girl's lips on hers as bad as she did right now.

"Rachel, Lucy dinner in five." Hiram yelled as he stuck his head through the basement door ruining the moment. Both girls moved apart a few inches, and laughed a bit nervously.

"So you excited to go trick-or-treating?" Rachel asked breaking the tension.

"Yeah I think so." Lucy said a bit nervously. "I haven't been since I was like six."

"Why'd you stop so young? I've gone every year since I was like five. Of course now I bring younger children with me to seem acceptable to my peers but I really love it." Rachel got this goofy smile on her face as she said that.

"I think six was the last year my parents thought I was cute. Then I started to…" Lucy pushed her two palms together and then moved them apart indicating she started getting bigger. "I ballooned."

"Girls dinner." Hiram called down again. Rachel watched Lucy head up the stairs and felt a sadness in her chest. She couldn't believe how awful the Fabrays were especially to such an incredible girl like Lucy. She also felt lucky to be the girl's friend and show her how special she really was.

When Halloween came around, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella stood in Rachel's living room with a little werewolf between them.

"Oh, don't you all look so cute." Hiram said as he snapped a few pictures with his camera.

"I'm not cute. I'm scary." Freddie stated emitting a low growl.  
"Right of course. I'll make sure to put the good silver in our bedroom for tonight just in case we need a weapon." Leroy winked at his husband.

Rachel spun around in her red cape, delighting in the way it fanned out around her. When she came to a stop in front of Lucy, the taller girl's eyes were sparkling with amusement. "You look really pretty, Rach." The brunette ducked her head and a slight blush crept across her cheeks. "Thanks. You do too, Cinderella. Although," She looked up at Lucy with a tiny pout forming, "I still think you should have dressed as my lumberjack."

"I'm a girl." Lucy said trying to be the proper girl her parents raised. They would've never understood cross-dressing even on Halloween. Rachel's mouth formed into full pout mode.

"It's Halloween. Who's going to protect me from the big bad wolf?"

"Considering the size of the wolf, I think Cinderella will do just fine." Rachel smiled at her and the girls' linked arms as they left the house being led by the "big" bad wolf.

Outside Mrs. Shapiro's house, Rachel and Lucy stood waiting for Freddie to finish at the last stop for the night. It was close to his bedtime.

"I can't believe the Goldbergs' gave out little bags of carrots." Rachel said fishing the little bag out from her basket. "Although I appreciate them promoting a healthy lifestyle, it's Halloween." She practically whined the last part.

"I know. The house before that gave me a box of raisins. Not exactly what kids are looking for on Halloween." Rachel nodded sagely in agreement as a blue convertible pulled up on the curb beside them. Inside sat Stacey and Amanda in the backseat with their high school boyfriends in the front.

"Aww how cute the wittle babies are trick-or-treating." Amanda cooed in a mocking tone.

"What's a matter no invites to parties with people your own age instead of lame elementary school kiddies." Stacey added nodding toward the younger children coming down the steps.

"Cause you only hang out with people _your_ own age." Lucy countered eyeing the boys in the front seat.

"I'm moving up. You know the right way."

"Does that mean you won't go down?" The driver asked elbowing his friend and laughing lewdly. Stacey glared at the back of his head. "Sean." She said in a warning tone.

"Sorry babe." He said still chuckling.

"So Red," The other boy started looking at Rachel, "I see you brought the whale," he nodded in Lucy's direction, "so we brought the water." Both boys grabbed water balloons from a bag on the floor of the car and pelted them at Lucy. She shrieked as they exploded on impact with her body. The water was ice cold and made the chilly October air feel frigid.

"Hey." Rachel yelled and tried to step in the way but they sped away just as quickly as the exchange had taken place. "Jerks." She called after the car. She turned back to look at Lucy. The girl was soaked. One balloon had hit her in the chest and drenched her whole upper body along with splashing her face. The other had hit the ground at her feet and sprayed her legs. She slowly moved her eyes to Lucy's face. She wasn't crying but her chin was quivering. Rachel took off her cloak and handed it to the other girl. Lucy accepted it and wrapped in around herself.

"Can we go now?" Lucy managed to ask without the inevitable tears spilling.

"Of course." Rachel found Freddie in the crowd that had gathered and grabbed his hand, with her other she intertwined her fingers with Lucy's. They made the walk home in silence.

As they opened the front door to the Berry house, Leroy and Hiram sprang up from the couch.

"Did you guys have fun?" They asked with excitement before they could take in Lucy's appearance.

"I did." Freddie said in his state of childhood obliviousness. He lay down on the living room floor and dumped his candy so he could inspect each piece. Leroy and Hiram faces fell as they looked at Lucy.

"Honey, what happened?" Hiram asked her, his voice soft. Finally being addressed brought Lucy to action. She ran up the stairs to Rachel's bedroom. Both men looked at Rachel expectantly. She shrugged sadly and quickly followed Lucy to her bedroom. She found the girl in a heap on her bed, head buried in the pillows. She could see Lucy's shoulders shaking from crying; finally releasing the tears she had been holding back.

"Oh, sweetie." Rachel said softly crossing the room and sitting down on the bed. She reached out her hand and laid it on Lucy's arm. Lucy recoiled at the touch. Rachel retracted her hand and felt stung. She wanted to comfort the girl.

"Lucy." She said almost begging. She was pleading for the girl to let her help. "Lucy, I…"

"Don't." Lucy said tersely. She pushed herself off the bed and stared down at Rachel. Rachel could see the wet tracks streaking the girl's face.

"Don't tell me I'm beautiful or pretty or per…perfect." New tears spilled as Lucy tried to get the words out. "Don't lie. I'm huge. I'm tubby. I'm a whale. I'm Lucy Caboosey." She said referring to a common name the kids used for at school. "And I guess I don't deserve to be happy and I don't get to have fun even just a little bit on Halloween because I'm gross and disgusting and…and…_fat_." Lucy spat the last word with so much venom it sounded like the most detestable thing a person could be. Rachel watched as she stood there in her anger at everyone and her revulsion for herself and it broke her heart. She couldn't understand how everyone, every single person Lucy had every encountered, couldn't see how amazing the girl was.

After her speech the anger seemed to sap out of Lucy. She sat on the bed and her shoulders slumped. Rachel ventured a bit closer and sat next to her.

"I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I made you go out tonight." She said sadly. Lucy tilted her head and saw silent tears streaking down the brunette's face and if possible she felt even worse. The last thing she wanted to do was make Rachel cry.

"No, it's mine. I should've known better." Both girls sat in silence for several minutes.

"Lucy, it's neither one of our faults. It's those stupid ignorant jerks." Rachel finally said a fire burning inside her.

"Rachel…" Lucy tried to halt the shorter girl's impending rant.

"No." Rachel said standing up as Lucy had before. "You don't want to hear that you're beautiful or pretty or perfect or amazing or incredible even though you are all those things and people are just too dumb to notice. That's fine for tonight because it's been traumatic, but I'm not going to sit here and blame myself and let you blame yourself for what happened. It's them, everyone else, society. They're the problem, not me and you." She looked right into Lucy's hazel eyes. "I wish we didn't care about what everyone else said and you could believe me when I spoke the truth about how extraordinary you are. I wish I could be all that you needed."

"I wish everyone hadn't damaged me to the point where I can't believe you when you say those things about me." Lucy sighed a determined look on her face. "But I'm going to try to get over it because Rach, you're my best friend. You are all that I need."

Rachel finally smiled and sat back on the bed next to Lucy. She rested her head against the girl's shoulder and Lucy rested her head against Rachel's.


	6. Chapter 6

One day Rachel and Lucy sat against a tree in the park that they went to almost every day after school. Rachel had learned Lucy loved the outdoors. Even though it was December snow had yet to fall and the weather still wasn't too cold to be out for a little bit.

"I'm so insecure." Lucy admitted. After all they had been through, she knew that Rachel already knew this but she felt the need to talk about it. Every other time they had talked about it had been forced out of her. Like on Halloween when she couldn't contain it so she exploded. She didn't want any more explosions. She wanted one final discussion about it and then maybe she would be ready to move on and stop thinking about it constantly. Maybe she could live her life and be at peace.

Rachel had known this about the girl but took it as a good sign that she was talking about it. "Why?" The brunette asked as she scooted closer to the other girl so their sides were touching. In response to the question Lucy looked at her with wide-eyed disbelief. "Look at me." She practically whispered as her eyes fell from Rachel's face to the ground.

"I am." Rachel said and grabbed the girl's hand.

"I'm fat. I have zits. I hate my nose. I know you've said all those nice things about me but I'm stating facts here." Lucy kept her eyes on the ground while she said this and Rachel intertwined their fingers. She felt bad that the other girl was hurting but not talking about it wouldn't make it better. As the Fabrays had proven not talking about it made it worse.

"You forgot something." Rachel said and Lucy looked at her surprised. "You're beautiful."

"I'm not." Lucy responded with conviction and this time she looked right into Rachel's eyes.

"You are." Rachel counterpointed holding Lucy's gaze.

"I'm not and I still can't believe it when you say it." The other girl repeated. They had a stare down while Rachel tried to think of way to get through to Lucy. Finally she said, "I think you're beautiful," much more shyly than she had been talking before. "And you can't tell me what I think is wrong because it's my opinion and therefore it has to be right." She finished matter-of-factly.

Lucy practically snorted at this. "So if it was your opinion that the reason the sky is blue is because aliens colored it in with magic marker I would have to say you're right because opinions can't be wrong."

"If I believed it then it would be right for me no matter what anyone else said. You're beautiful. I think this. I know this. I believe this. It's true for me."

"What's so beautiful about me?" Lucy asked challengingly.

"Your eyes. They hold so much emotion and when you smile, like really smile, they light up. Also they're a pretty color. Your mouth and the way when you're really into a book it starts mouthing the words. Your hands. They feel like they fit perfectly in mine." At this last statement Rachel squeezed the hand she was holding. "Your voice and how content I feel when you read to me. Your bravery about coming out even if it was just to me. How caring you are and the way you went to my dance class even though you were nervous and didn't really want to but you did for me. Your heart and how much love there is inside of you despite how little you've been shown." As she had been talking her and Lucy's heads had gotten closer and closer. Lucy had tears in her eyes. Rachel tilted her head and leaned in and Lucy said, "Rachel," in a tone that stopped the brunette.

"What?" Rachel asked not pulling back.

"I've never kissed anyone before." Lucy admitted.

"Me neither." With that admission a look passed between the girls and they pressed their lips together. It was soft and chaste and innocent. It was everything a first kiss should be and it sent tingles ricocheting through each girls' body.

Lucy had been pushing around her peas on her plate lost in her head when the gruff voice of her father startled her from her thoughts of Rachel and their kiss. "Lucy," He said abruptly. She looked up at him wide-eyed like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Yes sir." She answered.

"You've been hanging around that new girl…" He tried to think of her name and looked to his wife for help but she simply shrugged just as lost as he was.

"Rachel." Frannie supplied and Lucy looked at her surprised and unsure why her sister knew that when she hadn't talked to any members of her family about Rachel. When her parents asked she just said she was going over a friend's house but she provided no details and they hadn't asked her for any.

"How did you…"

"Graham's brother Alistair is a grade below you and goes to the same school." Frannie said as if Lucy should already know this, which she did but it slipped her mind because she never thought she would be the topic of conversation between any of them.

"Right Rachel," Her father continued, "You've been hanging around her a lot lately and I don't think you should be."

"Why?" It came out before Lucy could stop herself. It was the first time she had ever questioned her father out loud.

"Number one because I said so," as he said this Russell Fabray pinned Lucy with a look so severely intense her eyes fell to the table and she had to fight the urge to run to her room and hide from it. "And number two she comes from a despicable family life. I can't have her mingling with a member of family. Do you know what it would look like if the congregation found out my daughter was friends with a girl with two faggots for parents?" He spit the word faggots out as if it was the most detestable thing a person could be and Lucy flinched when she heard it. This time she didn't need to ask how he had found this out. Frannie told him. Lucy couldn't think of anything to say. She knew she couldn't fight back but she also couldn't accept it.

"May I be excused?" She asked.

"I think that would be best." Mr. Fabray said. "And leave your cellphone with me."

Lucy took it out of her pocket and dropped it on the table. She managed to hold back her tears until she made it to her room. She flopped facedown onto her bed and held onto a pillow as sobs wracked through her body. Moments later there was a knock on her door. Before she could say anything Frannie entered her room and sat at the edge of her bed.

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not." Lucy answered as she sat up to look at her sister with a tearstained face.

"I didn't think he was going to ban you from seeing her." Frannie tried to explain.

"Then why bother telling him at all? What did you expect to accomplish?" Lucy said the anger towards her father and her mother and her sister all boiling over now.

"I didn't expect to _accomplish_ anything. I just thought he should know." Frannie said starting to get angry now herself her voice rising in volume.

"Bullshit, Frannie. There's always something more with you. You never just do anything." Frannie opened her mouth but Lucy cut her off before she could speak again. "I had one friend. One friend my whole life and you take her away. Well I'm not going to let you."

"Girls, what's all that noise?" Mrs. Fabray called as she and Mr. Fabray came walking down the hallway.

"No one's going to take her away." Lucy said as she ran out into the hallway. She collided into her parents and kept going, running out the front door and all the way to Rachel's house. She collapsed into a heaving, out of breath, crying mess when she made it to the front porch. She stayed like that for a while willing herself to calm down. She repeated over and over again in her head that Rachel was right there on the other side of the door and that she would be able to see her whenever she wanted. Rachel wanted to see her. They would make this work. No one was going to be able to force them apart.

When she composed herself as best as she could, she knocked on the front door and was met by an equally teary faced looking Rachel. Confused Lucy opened her mouth to ask why but before she could Rachel pulled her into a tight hug. As Lucy felt the tiny girl shaking in her arms she began to cry again too and soon the effort of simply standing there became too much so they sank to the floor together.

"I'm leaving." Rachel said once silence had settled over them. She still had her arms around Lucy and her head buried in the crook of the girl's neck.

"Leaving? What do you mean?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"My dad's job. He got transferred to Washington."

"How…how long?"

"We're leaving as soon as winter break starts."

"But that's in a couple days."

"I know."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know." They sat in silence for a few minutes clinging to each other. "Why were you crying?" Rachel finally asked just now realizing Lucy hadn't known about the news.

"It doesn't matter." She answered fresh tears streaking her face.

Just then they heard a pounding on the front door. Both girls turned their heads to look at the door but neither made a move to get up. Lucy had a queasy feeling in her stomach and was sure she knew who it was. Unconsciously she tightened her grip on Rachel. On the third round of the violent "BANG, BANG, BANG" Leroy Berry barged over to the door and whipped it open.

"Can I help you?" He asked perturbed. He didn't know what this was but he knew he didn't need it, particularly at this moment. He didn't need an angry man standing on his doorstep. He was upset enough. He didn't want to pack up his life and move his family across the country. He didn't like hearing his daughter cry for hours because she had to leave her life in Lima, had to leave Lucy, her first real friend and what Leroy could see as a relationship developing into more than friends. It broke his heart. It broke Hiram's heart, which just broke his own even more. He was under enough stress. He didn't need anymore but as soon as he whipped open that door a stocky blonde man nearly barreled him over in his haste to get in the house.

"No you most certainly cannot help me." He said and stopped moving the moment he caught sight of his daughter. He took in the scene, his daughter on the floor hair and face all a mess and she was holding onto a petite brunette girl who Russell realized was Rachel. He walked closer and hovered over them casting a shadow on the two girls.

"Lucy, we are leaving right now." He said through clenched teeth.

Leroy wasn't sure why the man was so upset. Maybe Lucy lied about coming here. He didn't know but he sighed and decided he would try to reason with the man.

"Look we're leaving in a few days. My husband and I thought Lucy could stay the night so the girls could spend a little more time together before we left."

Russell Fabray turned around and wore a look so fierce that Leroy's guard went flying back up and his hands balled into fists at his side ready to fight if needed.

"You and your husband," Russell spat with venom, "are perverts and shouldn't be allowed around children." He turned back and grabbed Lucy yanking her up by the arm as Rachel was unceremoniously pulled up too still clinging to Lucy's other one.

When they were standing Russell gave Lucy's arm a pull to try and get Rachel to let go but the girl wouldn't. His eyes flashed with rage and he pulled again more violently. Leroy sprung into action and grabbed his daughter's waist and disengaged her from the situation not wanting either of the girls to be hurt. If that man hurt his baby all Leroy would be able to think of would be murder. He held on to Rachel as she pushed against his arms trying to break free. New tears flowed down her face. Lucy kept her head turned and her eyes on Rachel even as they blurred with tears as her father dragged her out the front door. "Rachel." She yelled.

"Lucy," was the final broken whisper she heard from the brunette as her father finally made it out of the house.


	7. On My Own

**You all can thank Nemo for this update. Since the snow has me stuck in the house I decided to be slightly productive and finish this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it. And go listen to Lea Michele's version of On My Own. I hadn't heard it in a while and it is truly lovely. **

Rachel stood in the crisp September air and looked up at McKinley High School. She watched other students milling around and talking in groups. Occasionally someone would bump into her, probably not even realizing she was there. She let her eyes flit through the faces of people. Part of her hoped maybe Lucy would be here. Her fathers and she had just moved back to Lima a week ago and Rachel had been too scared to ride by the Fabray's house. They could have moved but even if they didn't maybe Lucy didn't even go to McKinley. She could go to Carmel or some other school Rachel wasn't aware of. The other part of Rachel let out a sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to see her childhood friend again. At first they had sent each other letters, shying away from computers and texting because both girls were fans of the classics. But soon Rachel's letters went unanswered. Desperately she tried texting but she received no response there either and every Myspace or Google search for Lucy Fabray bore no results. Unsure of what to do next Rachel gave up and went back to devoting all her time to her music but Lucy never left her mind.

Washington hadn't been better for making friends for the brunette. People still seemed annoyed and turned-off by her loud, opinionated attitude and her drive. Rachel was oddly at peace with this. She had known true friendship once and that would suffice her until her peers were more understanding of her ambition. She thought maybe this would happen in college considering she would go to NYADA or Julliard, places where there were people just as dedicated to the arts as she was and if not she could wait until she was a famous Broadway star and then people would realize how wonderful she was. High school was just a test she decided, to weed out the strong from the weak, to see who could survive with their insides still intact. Rachel Berry was strong and she would be damned if she let them get the best of her. With one final look around, she headed into Mckinley High for her first day. School had started a week ago so she hoped she hadn't missed too much.

The day passed quickly. Barely anyone even noticed her until lunchtime. She grabbed her lunch tray and looked around. There were a few girls from her English class sitting at one table. Rachel started to approach it but on of the girls stopped laughing long enough to glare at Rachel and let her know she wasn't welcome there so she swerved around it and found an empty table in the middle of the cafeteria. She sat down in her chair and sighed and then smiled to herself. The day was going better than expected so far nobody knocked her books out of her hands or called her names or wrote mean things about her on the bathroom stalls like at her old school. Rachel should have known by now that this was too good to be true.

She was delicately eating her salad when a pack of girls approached her table. Rachel looked up at their arrival and realized they weren't just girls, they were cheerleaders. A slight feeling of terror passed through the brunette but she wasn't going to let them know she was afraid. She was after all an actress and a good one too.

Rachel noticed which one was the leader of the pack right away. She stood slightly in front of the others. She had long, shiny jet-black hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. Peaking over her shoulder was an innocent looking blonde girl with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.

"May I help you?" Rachel asked as polite as could be.

"May you_ help_ us?" The dark-haired girl asked putting her hands on her hips. "What you can do is get away from our property."

"I'm sorry?" Rachel asked confused.

"Our table. This is where we sit at lunch." She clarified. "Don't you know the rules around here?"

"San, I think she's new." The blonde said.

"Fresh meat huh." She said with a wicked glint in her eyes. "Let me help you out. This is the cheerleaders' table and that is your table." She pointed to one that had four boys with glasses and suspenders playing some kind of trading card game. "Or maybe that one." She pointed to another where nobody was sitting. Rachel stood up and grabbed her tray. As she walked past the group the dark-haired girl called out to her. "And hobbit, if I ever catch you at this table again…" She trailed off thinking whatever Rachel's imagination could fill in would be worse than anything she could think of on the spot. Rachel nodded not making eye contact and made her way to the empty table.

At dinner that night Rachel's fathers asked her how her first day was.

"It was okay. The cheerleaders are mean bullies but that's to be expected; however, I did sign up for glee club. I'm excited to showcase my talent and perform in competitions albeit they are low rank ones experience is still experience and I'll take what I can get it this small town."

"Well that sounds lovely, darling." Leroy said with a smile.

"What about…?" Hiram asked trailing off. "Was she there?"

"No, I don't think so. Every time I was in class and someone would walk in my head would shoot up expecting it to be her. I spent lunch scanning every table for her face. I made sure to look at everyone I passed in the hallway and let me tell you most of them didn't enjoy my 'staring'." At this word she used air quotes slightly exasperated.

"You could check the class roster." Hiram suggested hopefully. He had really liked the other girl despite her despicable family and he had never seen his daughter as happy as she was with Lucy neither before they met nor after.

"Maybe, I'm not sure I want to know definitively yet. I think I want to remain hopeful for just a couple more days."

"So I guess that means no driving by the Fabrays' house either?" Hiram asked. Leroy rolled his eyes at his husband's suggestion. If he wasn't careful, he was going to have two stalkers on his hands.

"No. Not yet anyway."

Meanwhile at the Fabray household

"Qunnie, you have guests." Mrs. Fabray called up the stairs to her daughter.

"Send them up." Quinn already knew who it was, Santana and Brittany. Every day since she'd been sick they had brought her her homework after Cheerios' practice. Santana threw the textbooks on the desk and plopped down on the bed next to Quinn while Brittany sat Indian style on the foot of the bed.

"God Quinn you have to come back soon. Coach Sylvester is running us ragged ever since you've been out." The Latina threw her arm over her eyes blocking out the light. "When are you coming back anyway? Tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

"No. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. He has to give me the okay before I can come back. Maybe the day after."

"Ughh." Santana sighed dramatically.

"Anything else happening since I've been out?" Part of Quinn was worried that someone else could sweep in and steal her queen of McKinley status during her absence. Even though it had only been a week, time worked differently in high school. All the vultures were just looking for an opportunity, a moment of weakness on Quinn's part to steal her popularity. There was Janice. She had been gunning for the spot of captain of the Cheerios since she made the squad. Everyone knew she disliked Quinn although she played nice and pleasant and followed her orders. Even Janice understood how the hierarchy worked but, she was always trying to get on Coach Sylvester's good side (if the woman had one) but luckily for Quinn, Coach just always seemed annoyed by the girl. Quinn knew one girl who could pose a serious threat but she was sitting on her bed at the moment. Santana was sneaky and manipulative and downright mean but she and Quinn were friends. That's probably why they were friends, birds of a feather. Santana, Brittany, and her, they were the Unholy Trinity so she wasn't too worried about the dark-haired girl.

"Yeah some new girl tried to steal our lunch table. What was her name Britt?" Santana lifted her arm up to look at the blonde who was now making a bracelet out of gimp.

"Hobbit." She answered looking at Santana. Santana's eyebrows lifted quizzically at this. "That's what you called her so I assumed it was her name." Brittany said matter of factly and returned to her work.

"Right so I guess we don't know her name. But don't worry cause I totally put her in her place. I threatened her and every thing. It was pretty awesome." She smiled smugly. Quinn didn't like this new girl. Janice and Santana, Quinn knew them, knew how to keep them in check. This girl was a wildcard. She couldn't assess the threat level and didn't know what to expect. Quinn was the most popular girl in school and she wasn't sure this new girl even knew she existed and that had to change.

"Good job Santana really." Santana smiled proudly. Quinn knew how important praise was. After the girls left Quinn pulled out her phone and made a call. On the third ring he finally picked up.

"Puck, hey…yeah I miss you too, stud. Listen do you think you could do me a favor?"

Rachel's second day at McKinley passed basically the same as the first except now when cheerleaders or jocks saw her they glared menacingly. She guessed her little lunchtime "table stealing" incident had been circulated. Rachel barely paid them any attention though. Today was the day she would audition for glee club. This filled her with a sense of determination. Her old school hadn't even had one.

She had spent all last night picking which song would be perfect and had settled on "On My Own" from Les Miserables. If she just replaced all the he, him, and his with she, her, and hers in her head she thought it fit with her feelings quite nicely. She was even slightly giddy at the prospect of possibly making some friends in glee. She rationalized that they must all love to perform as she did and some maybe even shared her dreams of starring on Broadway or making music in some other way. While she realized they could and should be considered competition, they could still be cordial to each other. Everyone's heard of "friendly" competition right? Rachel didn't know anyone in glee club and hadn't heard anyone talking about it. Oh well, she thought, she would just have to be surprised.

After the last period bell rang, Rachel scurried to the auditorium to warm up her vocals. Alone in there she imagined a sold out crowd before her all coming to see _her_ perform. She imagined the heat of the spotlight on her skin and she bathed in it. She also imagined Lucy sitting front and center watching her with such adoration and at that she shook the fantasy away, checked the time, and ran to her locker to get her sheet music. She didn't want to be late for her audition and in the Berry household if you weren't early, you were late. There was still quite a bit of students in the halls considering it was after school but, they were all waiting for rides or for clubs to begin or just hanging out with nothing better to do.

As she was running down the hallway, a voice called out to her. Even with all those people around, she knew it was for her.

"Hey." It was a boy's voice and it was a command to get her attention. Rachel didn't know whether to keep going or stop and see what he wanted. She didn't like ignoring people and didn't want to seem rude so she turned to him. He was very tall and had a Mohawk, Rachel noticed, but most importantly he was wearing a letterman jacket. Later Rachel would realize that wasn't the most important thing.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm Puck." He offered her a charming smile and she thought maybe he wasn't so bad. "And I have been given a very special mission. One that you're an essential part of." Quinn had told the boy exactly what to say.

"Me?" Rachel questioned confused.

"Mhmm." He answered and before she knew it he was lifting up the slushie he had in his hand (which by the way was the most important thing she was supposed to have noticed before) and threw it in her face. It was ice cold and ran down her front staining her outfit red. Luckily she had closed her eyes in time. Puck leaned in close to her ear and said, "From Quinn," and then he walked away. She remembered his breath smelled a bit like cherries, as if he had been drinking the slushie prior to dumping it on her, and she hoped to god he hadn't backwashed.

Rachel stood there until he rounded a corner and she could no longer see him. The students around her gawked and openly laughed at her humiliation. She didn't look at any of them. She wiped slushie out of her eyes, went to her locker to grab her sheet music and gym clothes and then to the bathroom to clean herself up. Rachel was a performer and she knew the show must go on no matter what. She looked in the mirror and decided she was presentable despite the gym clothes, which she couldn't help at this point. She checked her watch again and sighed. Now she was late by both Berry standards and normal ones but she walked into that glee room with her head held high and confidence in her walk. She handed her music to the piano player and looked around at the students gathered.

There was an extravagantly dressed boy sitting between two girls who had been gossiping until she walked in. Another boy in a wheelchair looked at her with sympathetic eyes. He wiped at an imaginary spot on his jaw and Rachel took the hint. She swiped her thumb over the same spot on her face and found she missed a spot of slushie. She silently thanked him with a smile. She also saw the two cheerleaders from yesterday in the cafeteria, the Latina and the blonde one. Behind them sat four jocks, one of whom was the infamous Puck who slushied her. She averted her eyes quickly.

"Okay everyone, now that Rachel's here we can begin. I believe she has picked out a song to audition with. You can begin now Rachel." Mr. Shuester flashed her a smile. She recognized him as her Spanish teacher. She hadn't known he ran the glee club but smiled back because he had seemed nice enough.

"Hi everyone. I'm Rachel Berry and I will be auditioning with the song "On My Own" from Les Miserables.

Her performance was flawless if she may say so. Her audience was captivated and rendered speechless. Mr. Shue gave her a standing ovation himself and congratulated her letting her know she made the club. She knew she would but praise was always accepted and welcomed. She thanked him and sat down among the other students. She didn't miss the looks the flamboyant boy and the girls on either side of him (their names were Kurt, Tina, and Mercedes) and Santana gave her. They were not pleased with how well she performed, not at all, and Rachel smiled to herself. They were jealous of _her_. If they weren't going to be her friends at least they recognized her talent. Glee club passed quickly Mr. Shue talked about preparing for Sectionals especially now that they had enough members to compete. Then he dismissed them.

As she was walking out she heard one of the jocks talking to Santana.

"Santana, when's Quinn coming back?" It was practically a whine. He had brown hair and looked fairly innocent and boyish.

"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow Tubby. Ask her yourself." Santana answered. The boy pouted making him look even more like a child. Rachel hurried out before any of them could notice her. Who was this Quinn? And why did she hate Rachel already?


	8. Chapter 8

**Next chapter let me know what you guys thinks :)**

"Quinnie." Mrs. Fabray called up to her daughter. Quinn checked the time. That would be Santana and Brittany.

"I'll be right down." She had had her doctor's appointment today and he had confirmed that she was ready to go back to school tomorrow. When she entered the living room she saw Santana sprawled out on the couch with her head in Brittany's lap. The blonde absentmindedly ran her fingers through the other girl's dark tresses. Quinn blushed at the sight. "Can you guys not be so…affectionate? My mother's in the next room." Santana rolled her eyes but sat up. She knew Quinn came from an uber-conservative Christian home but it's not like she and Britt were even lesbians.

"So what's the verdict?" Santana asked.

"I'll be back tomorrow." Brittany squealed at the admission and hugged Quinn.

"Thank god Q. School's not the same without you."

"Thanks Britt. So anything new with the girl that tried to steal our lunch table?"

"She joined Glee club and she has a wicked set of pipes on her."

"Her voice sounds like how Lord Tubbington's would if he stopped smoking." Brittany added. Quinn quirked her eyebrow quizzically at that.

"She's good." Santana clarified. "And her name's Rachel something."

Quinn froze at that. Rachel, her Rachel. Could she be back? But there had to be a lot of girls named Rachel who could sing, right? What if it was her though?

"Quinn…earth to Quinn, you still with us?" Santana said trying to get the girl's attention back from wherever it went away to.

"Yeah I'm fine. You sure you don't remember her last name?"

"No." Santana answered not understanding the significance. "But you'll meet her tomorrow." The idea brought no peace to Quinn.

Later that night in her room Quinn pulled a box out from under her bed, a box she hadn't looked at in quite some time. She skimmed over old letters the brunette had sent to her, all the way to the last one. It was heartbreaking to read. She wanted to know, she begged with her words, why Lucy wasn't returning her letters anymore but Lucy didn't exist anymore. Instead Quinn had received those letters and Quinn was determined to cut off everything from her former life. It's not like she was ever going to see the tiny diva again so it was better this way for both of them. Now she wondered if this Rachel who could sing was the same girl and she didn't know how she felt about that. Part of her was excited. Rachel was her first real friend and still the only person who knew who Quinn really was and what she was really like. The other part was scared. Rachel was from her old life and she didn't need to deal with that again especially since her life now was so perfect. Her parents were proud of her. They valued her as a prized member of the household. She was still a good student and captain of the Cheerios. Every boy wanted her and every girl hated her because they wanted to be her. She had everything she should want to be happy. Who cares that none of her friends really knew what she was like or about her past? Who cares that she didn't like any of the boys and only went with them for the added status they gave her? She was pretty, popular, and powerful. She was all she ever wanted to be.

If this Rachel was Rachel Berry, then Quinn would just have to ignore her. Maybe the girl would be dense and not put two and two together. Maybe she wouldn't realize Quinn used to be Lucy.

Quinn went to put away the box when a picture at the bottom caught her eye. It was a picture of two girls, one pudgier than the other with glasses on her face. Quinn immediately flipped it over. She didn't want to see what she used to look like. It was as if doing so physically hurt her but in the short glimpse she had, she saw something else and she had to look and be sure her eyes didn't deceive her. She remembered that day. Rachel and she had taken a trip to Cleveland and went to Rockefeller Park. They wandered around in it for hours. Lucy had felt so peaceful and safe there with Rachel. It was one of the best memories she had. When she flipped it over again, she instantly realized she had been right. She looked happy in the picture, happier than she ever remembered being. Was it possible that at one point as Lucy she had been happy? Was it possible that it was because of one girl, Rachel?

Quinn always thought she was exaggerating the way the tiny brunette had made her feel. Her mind had a tendency to do that. She was a dreamer or used to be anyway. Just cause Lucy had one friend, she made that friend out to be the greatest in her mind but it couldn't possibly be true. One person can't make you feel that good, Quinn rationalized. She had built Rachel up in her mind in all those years. If she saw her tomorrow, she was sure she would find just an average girl that made her feel nothing.

Finally she put the box away again and started on the homework Santana and Brittany had dropped off. She had spent too much time in the past and now she had to get back to her present.

The next day Rachel entered McKinley High cautiously. She walked lightly through the halls and peaked around every corner. She was on the look out for Quinn. She figured she would know it when she saw the girl. She knew the girl was a cheerleader. Rachel expected her to glow with the light of a thousand splendid suns and to walk on air, her delicate feet never touching the gross floors. She couldn't even imagine how beautiful the girl must be. She had to be beautiful and charming and smart to have the pull over this place like she did. Cheerleaders and football players talked about her as if her return to school was akin to the second coming of Christ. She had to be influential to have had Rachel slushied. Even when she wasn't around, people obeyed her. Rachel was kind of scared, not that she would show it, but this Quinn already targeted her and they hadn't even met.

Rachel entered her first period Spanish class and held her breath every time someone walked through the door. She recognized everyone's faces and had seen them in this class before and there were no cheerleaders. She felt safe at least for the time being. Second period passed in much the same way and by third period the breath Rachel had held every time someone walked in the door was no more. Maybe Quinn and Rachel weren't even in any of the same classes and the time they would see each other would be minimum. Maybe Rachel would fade off this girl's radar. Then again maybe Rachel was foolish for thinking these things.

When the last stranglers filed in and the bell rang beginning class, Rachel smiled and opened her notebook eager to learn. She hated math, hated it with a passion. She didn't have time to play around with numbers when she could be singing. But class beginning meant no threat of Quinn and, Rachel was one step closer to getting through her day. She was relieved…until Ms. Harper took roll call.

After her name Rachel basically stopped listening and started doodling music notes her in her book but then Ms. Harper called, "Quinn Fabray," and Rachel was pretty sure her heart stopped beating. Fabray as in Lucy Fabray as in maybe she and Quinn were related. Quinn as in the Quinn who already disliked her and had her slushied. This was too much for Rachel's brain. Her head shot up and she looked around but no one was raising their hand.

"Quinn Fabray." Ms. Harper called again and looked up. "I guess not. I was told she would be back today." She said mostly to herself and just when she was about to move on to the next person, the door to the class opened. And an angel walked in the door, an angel in a cheerleading outfit. She was beautiful and Rachel could understand how she had people do whatever she wanted. She also looked familiar like Rachel had seen her before, which helped her theory that Lucy and Quinn were related. Maybe they shared a family resemblance.

"I'm here." Quinn said and Rachel's heart decided to start beating again, wildly and erratic. She knew that voice. That was Lucy's voice. She would recognize it anywhere. She had spent countless hours on the phone with that voice and listened to it read out loud more times than she could count.

As Quinn passed in her tardy note she scanned the faces in the room as if she was looking for someone. When she got to Rachel, their eyes locked for a split second and Quinn immediately turned back to face the teacher. Rachel recognized those hazel eyes too. That voice and those eyes were more than a family resemblance. Was what she was thinking even possible? That Quinn had once been Lucy? It sounded crazy even to Rachel who had come up with some pretty crazy ideas on her own.

"Okay Ms. Fabray, please find a seat so we can begin." Quinn scanned the room again, this time for an empty desk. She made no attempt to hide her groan when she realized the only one was in front of Rachel.

"Something wrong?" Ms. Harper asked.

"No, nothing at all." Quinn walked to her seat and sat down not once looking at Rachel and Rachel sat there unsure what to do. Should she get the girl's attention, maybe tap her on the shoulder? Should she whisper 'I know you're Lucy'? No that would be creepy but what should she say. She debated in her head the best way to begin. Before she could say anything though Quinn turned slightly, not fully facing Rachel but just so the girl could see her face in profile.

"I can feel your eyes burning holes in the back of my head. Please stop." Quinn said through clenched teeth. "I can't deal with this right now." She finished more softly and turned back around.

The rest of class Rachel tried to focus but more than once she caught herself staring at Quinn's head again and thinking about the girl. When she did, she would redouble her efforts to pay attention to Ms. Harper droning on and on about the Pythagorean Theorem. When class ended Rachel stretched out a hand to stop Quinn from leaving. The last hour had been torture and even though Quinn said she couldn't deal with this right now, Rachel had to talk to her. She just needed some answers about what was going on. But before she could reach the girl, Quinn jetted out of the class as if the room was on fire. Rachel was left with her arm in midair staring after Quinn.

Quinn practically ran to the bathroom after Geometry. She pushed open the door and saw a couple girls talking by the sinks. "Get out." She growled at them. They looked down not daring to make eye contact and filed silently out the door. Quinn checked under the stalls and was happy no one else was in the room. What the hell was she going to do? It was one thing to think the new girl might possibly be the Rachel from her past but to actually be confronted with it was a whole different story. Her stomach had done somersaults when her eyes landed on Rachel's. They were the same warm, brown eyes she had found comfort in so many times years ago. She couldn't do this she thought. Rachel looked good, like the girl she remembered but older. Her face had lost some of its childlike qualities and was more mature hinting at the woman she would become. She was beautiful now but Quinn knew she would just become more gorgeous as the years went on. She pictured Rachel on stage in a flowing gown, singing her heart out to a full house of adoring fans. They would be mesmerized by her voice, her beauty just an added bonus to her talent. Quinn also pictured herself front row and center beaming with pride as she watched the girl she…wait Quinn shook the thoughts from her head. This wasn't right.

Quinn had already planned how her future would go. She would go to college, find Mr. Right, they would settle down have kids. She would be the perfect wife, the trophy wife. Her parents would visit and her mom would remark about how wonderful the house looked and how well behaved the children were, comments that were to be taken as compliments on what a great wife and mother Quinn was. Her father would talk to her husband about business and golf. They would get along grandly. He would smile up at Quinn and that smile would say 'You did good' and 'You picked the perfect boy. If I had a son, I would want it to be him.' They would be proud of her. Quinn had to remember these things. That was the life she wanted.

She turned around from leaning against the sink to look in the mirror and touch up her lip-gloss. She looked good and had worked hard to look good and take control of her life and make it as it was. She would be damned if she was going to ruin it now especially over some girl. After all she wasn't some stupid boy. She decided she would just ignore Rachel like she had said before, no talking to her, no talking about her, no being alone with her, and the hardest of all no thinking about her. It would be as if the girl didn't exist. That shouldn't be too difficult, Quinn reasoned, she already ignored about half the student population anyway. She would also have to tell her friends to leave the brunette alone. If she was trying to ignore the girl, and they were talking about her it wouldn't work at all. She would tell them no bullying, no slushieing…oh god, she had had Rachel slushied. Quinn felt terrible instantly. She should apologize she thought, no she had to ignore Rachel. She would just pretend it never happened and give no explanation to the girl. Maybe Rachel would think that was just how all new students were welcomed to McKinley.

Quinn sighed to herself. Things had been going so well. Now this had to happen and throw her off her game. But no she resolved she wouldn't let it. She was Quinn Fabray. She ran this school. Her little pep talk to herself had started to get her confidence back up when she heard the door open. She turned around and there stood Rachel Berry.

**And it's all going to go down in the fabathroom. Obviously would you expect anything else from these two? :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**time for the big confrontation. hope you guys like it :)**

Rachel stood there too scared to speak or move. She felt how fragile the situation was. Quinn was akin to a deer. If Rachel made any sudden movements the blonde would run away never to be caught again. What could she say that would make the girl not want to escape?

Quinn was too shocked to move. Aside from barreling through Rachel to get to the door she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do in this position. Seconds passed like hours and finally the brunette spoke.

"Are you really Lucy?" Rachel asked and immediately she knew it was the wrong way to start. Her brain had probably known this before the words even left her mouth but Rachel had to know. The question finally brought Quinn to action. She started walking toward the door with no intention of stopping whether Rachel moved out of her way or not. But Quinn had also made a mistake. She hadn't thought about how being so close to the diva would affect her and she didn't think the shorter girl would reach out a hand to stop her and she certainly didn't factor in the electric charge that shot through her arm from the touch. She jumped back to put space in between the two of them.

"I'm not letting you out of here until we talk." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and stomped her foot determined to hold her ground. Quinn thought Rachel looked just like the petulant girl she had been friends with. She almost smiled at the thought.

"Fine let's talk." Quinn answered rolling her eyes, anything but enthusiastic at the idea. She looked at the ceiling as she spoke unable to look at Rachel. She had never been good at opening up about herself, a characteristic she knew Rachel already knew about, but she figured this time would probably be the hardest. She crossed the room and sat down on the sofa, no reason to stand there awkwardly. Rachel followed suit and start playing with her fingers nervously.

"So are you Lucy?" Rachel asked again.

"No." Quinn answered and Rachel just looked at her waiting for an explanation. Quinn sighed. "I _was_ Lucy until being her became too tiring. I got contacts, stayed in ballet even after…" Quinn trailed off but both girls knew what she was referring to, even after Rachel left, "I discovered I was very athletic so I joined gymnastics and cheering and lost all that weight. I went on proactive for my acne and asked my parents for a nose job. No big surprise they said yes. Finally I asked them to call me Quinn. It's my middle name, Lucy Quinn Fabray." She finished anticipating Rachel's next question.

"And your parents were okay with all the changes?"

"You remember my parents. They were just as happy as me to say goodbye to Lucy if not happier."  
"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm okay. I love myself and that's why I did all those things. I don't have to be that miserable little girl anymore."

"You weren't always miserable." Rachel said cautiously.

"I know and I have you to thank for that." Quinn said and Rachel smiled. This was going a lot better than she had expected. "But things are different now. I'm not that girl you knew. We're not going to pick up where we left off. In fact I think it would be best if…" Quinn trailed off trying to figure how to word her next thought delicately. "If we just didn't talk at all after this. I mean we're in two different places. I'm head cheerleader now and at the top of the social pyramid and you're…" What could she say, beneath me, way at the bottom, the lowest of the low? Fortunately for Quinn she didn't have to finish. Rachel heard those unsaid words loud and clear.

"What about what happened that last day?" Rachel asked. Quinn knew what she was referring to, the kiss. Lucy had thought about it a lot but Quinn had closed her mind and distracted herself whenever thoughts of it began to surface. She didn't want to think about its implications or how it had made her feel or even the conversation she had with Rachel in her bed weeks before. She had confessed to being…Quinn couldn't even think it now never mind say it out loud. It was that ridiculous. Quinn had dated lots of guys. She had a boyfriend now so she wasn't.

Quinn stood up and started pacing. She needed to work through how to answer this question. When she thought Rachel might be back, she had expected questions about the whole transformation from Lucy to Quinn so she was prepared for when they would be asked. But she had spent so much time not thinking about the kiss, her confession, or any aspect of their friendship that could be considered more than friendly that the thought that Rachel would ask about those things seemed impossible.

"What about it? It was an experiment. You had never been kissed before. I had never been kissed before. We wanted to see how it would be. It didn't mean anything more."

"It meant more to me." Rachel confessed in a small voice.

"Well it didn't to me. I was a sad, ugly loser and I didn't know if anyone would ever want to kiss me so when the opportunity presented itself I took it. It didn't matter who it was with. At that point I would've kissed anyone… even you." Quinn also hadn't been prepared for the hurt look that crossed Rachel's face. "Listen I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm just being honest." And although the first part was true, Quinn knew she was lying about the second. She had kissed a lot of boys since her reign started at McKinley High and not one had made her feel they way she had that day at the park and that scared Quinn to no end. So she was more than willing to deny it. It was her first kiss and maybe part of what she told Rachel was true. Maybe she didn't think anyone would ever want to kiss her and it was a forbidden kiss because it was with a girl. That's why it was exciting. That's why she had felt how she did, not for anything more. When she found the right guy, it would make her feel a thousand times better than that one did.

"I'm sorry if I did hurt you. It was unintentional so I'm going to give you a piece of friendly advice. If you still think you are…you know the way I thought I was." Quinn couldn't bring herself to say that word.

Luckily Rachel had no problem with it. "Gay."

Quinn blushed just hearing it. "Yeah. I would just keep it toned down. Maybe even keep it to yourself. This school isn't known for its tolerance policy."

"What about that boy in glee club, Kurt? He most certainly is."

"Yeah well some people's flames burn so bright there's no denying them. You're passing though so just try to keep it to yourself. He pays everyday for how he is." Quinn said this last part in a strange tone and Rachel couldn't figure out if she thought Kurt deserved to be punished for being gay or if she truly felt sorry for the boy.

"Well I'm not going to deny who I am just to appease some ignorant jerks." Rachel stood up to match Quinn's pose. Even though she was shorter she stood her ground.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Don't worry I can take care of myself. I'm not ashamed of who I am and I'm not a coward." Rachel said in an accusatory tone.

"I'm not a coward." Quinn yelled and Rachel flinched. "You're so naïve. You thought things were bad in middle school, well they're a hundred times worse here. You have no idea how this world works."

"It's not the world, just tiny bigoted Lima."

"Yeah well that's the world I have to live in and I refuse to feel the way I used to, crying myself to sleep and wishing I was dead." It grew quiet between the two girls. Quinn stood debating on whether or not to share with Rachel what she was thinking. She decided to go ahead since she had said so much already.

"When I met you," she started in small voice almost afraid to be heard, the anger from just seconds ago gone, "when we became friends, I thought things were starting to change for me. I was so hopeful that I could change the world, change the way people thought, that things could be better. Then you left. You were gone and I realized the only thing I could change was me. So I did it." Quinn checked her reflection in the mirror and walked to the door. She turned to Rachel one last time. "Just so we're clear, this conversation never happened and neither did any of our interactions when we were younger. It'll be our secret." Quinn's mouth twisted into a sick smile thinking of the time Rachel said those words to her and then she walked out of the door and Rachel stood there staring after her.

Lunch came and Rachel sat at her table all by herself pushing food around in her plate. Nothing about it looked appetizing. Sure her Dad had made it, she refused to eat food from a school cafeteria especially since they had basically zero vegan options, but her stomach had decided food was not a possibility today. Her insides were all in knots from her encounter with Quinn earlier and her head hurt from trying to work through everything that had been said. She heard a chair being pushed back and looked up to see a girl sitting across from her.

"You know you're supposed to eat that stuff." She said pointing to Rachel's lunch.

"Guess I'm not hungry." The other girl shrugged and took a bite of her own lunch. Rachel took a second to look at her. She had curly red hair, green eyes, and more freckles than could be counted. There were gauges in her ears and a piercing in her eyebrow. She was attractive but Rachel dismissed her as not her type. It would be nice to have a friend though.

"I'm Rachel Berry."

"I know." Rachel looked at her with surprised eyes and the girl chuckled. "Not a lot happens in Lima. A new girl at the high school is kind of big news. Plus Tina was telling me about how you're in glee club, said you're a really good singer, maybe even the best in the club and believe me she was not happy to admit that." Rachel smiled pleased with herself. She knew she had impressed those glee kids but it meant to a lot that they were willing to admit it out loud. "She was kind of jealous but don't worry if you want to get on her good side tell her you'll practice with her and help her get better. Maybe even sing a song together in glee club. She'll love it." The girl continued and Rachel realized she was probably the only person who had been helpful to her at McKinley. Here she was showing Rachel how to make Tina her friend. "I'm Kelley, by the way."

"Nice to meet you."

"I'm sure it is." Kelley said in a playful tone, a smirk on her face. Rachel found herself smiling at the girl's comment.

"So I've been told you can sing but I haven't actually heard you, which I would like too because I have a proposition for you. Now before you think I'm just chatting you up for my only selfish benefit, I would like to point out that what I'm offering will be mutually beneficially for both of us." She looked at Rachel expectantly.

"What exactly are you offering?"

"Oh right. I'm in drama club. We're putting on a play this spring, an original play written by me. It's a musical. It has two lead roles and I was wondering if you would like one of them."

Rachel was flattered. "Of course I want it. I live to perform. Someday I'll be the biggest star on Broadway." She pictured herself as Elphaba singing 'Defying Gravity' for a sold out show.

"I'm sure you will." Kelley's voice brought her back to the present. A moment of insecurity hit her. Kelley didn't even know her. Why was she offering her the part?

"Why me? You know other singers, Tina, and there's a whole glee club. You don't even know me. I could be a diva."

Kelley chuckled at that. "Oh I'm sure you are. You'll still have to audition. Like I said I want to hear you sing before it's definite although I'm sure you're as good as Tina said. Maybe I should tell you a little more about the play and then you'll know why I'm interested in you." Rachel blushed at that part. Someone was interested in her even if it was just for a play. "It's set in a high school, modern day. It's a love story…about two girls." Kelley waited for Rachel's reaction. When the brunette didn't say anything Kelley continued. "It's kind of out there for a small town like Lima but it's important. I do know some things about you which is why I thought you would want to be involved."

"You know I'm a gay?" Rachel asked surprised. Kelley's eyebrows rose so high they practically disappeared in her hair.

"Now I do. I heard you had two dads so I thought this issue would be near to your heart. I guess I didn't realized just how near."

"Oh."

"It's cool. I am too. I think I'm actually the only out lesbian at this school. I thought maybe this story would give people the courage to come out or at least they would know it's okay to feel the way they do. So still interested?" She smiled at Rachel. This conversation was actually going better than she expected.

"Yes, I'm still very interested." She answered her confidence returning.

"You're sure? As soon as this starts and people find out what it's about there will be rumors that you're gay. Even though you are I don't want to unintentionally out you if you don't want to be outed. McKinley can be a harsh place." Kelley said a faraway look in her eyes. There were no doubt bad memories surfacing about her own coming out and as much as she wanted this play to happen she refused to force anyone to play a role they were uncomfortable with.

"I'm not ashamed. I'm not a coward." Rachel echoed her words from her earlier talk with Quinn. "I've no intention of living in the closet and if people find out because of this play then so be it." She said this last part with conviction.

"Well alright then. Looks like I have half of my leading roles."

Rachel was feeling better after this encounter with Kelley and began eating her lunch. "So what else can you tell me? Who do I play?"

"You play for lack of a better word a loser." And then Rachel stopped eating again. "You're a social outcast because you're a lesbian. You fall in love with the head cheerleader who surprise is also a lesbian. It's about your secret love affair." The knots were back in Rachel's stomach.

She looked over at Quinn who was whispering something in Santana's ear. "Is it at all based in reality?" Kelley saw who she was looking at.

"Oh hunny, don't go there." Rachel's eyes returned to Kelley begrudgingly. "That girl is straight as an arrow and as cruel as they come."

"She doesn't seem so bad." Rachel had the uncontrollable urge to defend the blonde.

"Maybe not but everything those jocks or cheerleaders do they do either from direct orders from her or to impress her and advance themselves in the social hierarchy. You've been here three days and you know it's true. I saw you get slushied." Rachel wanted to protest, wanted to tell Kelley that was before Quinn knew it was her, but she knew she couldn't.

"Just stay clear of her and you should be fine." The bell rang signaling the end of lunch. "Would tomorrow be too soon for you're audition?"

"No not at all."

"Good. Three o'clock tomorrow in the auditorium." Kelley smiled as she walked out of the cafeteria and Rachel's head immediately filled with song choices. She followed the redhead out. Little did she know Quinn had been watching their entire exchange carefully.


	10. Chapter 10

**so i should probably be getting ready for finals next week but this just seemed more fun to do. hope you guys enjoy and since i wrote this instead of studying you guys should grade this chapter :)**

"Santana you're lagging. That's five more laps for everyone." Quinn called out. There was a collective groan from the cheerleaders jogging around the track. Santana was behind the rest of the pack nearly doubled over as she tried to keep going. Brittany slowed down to make sure the Latina was okay. Santana confirmed that she probably wasn't going to die and motioned for the blonde to go ahead as she shot daggers at Quinn. When she was finally about to cross the finish line for the last time, she made a detour and ran for the nearest trashcan. Quinn sauntered over just as the girl tossed her cookies.

"Perhaps you should sleep at night rather than drinking and hooking up with Puckerman." Quinn said judgmentally.

"Perhaps you should try having fun once in a while." Santana retorted as she lifted her head panting.

"Maybe…or maybe I'll have a talk with Coach Sylvester about how you can't keep up. She won't be pleased to hear that one girl is dragging her Nationals winning squad down."

Anger flashed through Santana's eyes. "You wouldn't." She said challenging the blonde. Quinn laughed mirthlessly at that.

"You know I would so don't make me." They stared each other down for a few seconds and then Quinn turned and walked towards the locker room without another word. Santana watched her go then retched into the trashcan again. Brittany made her way over and rubbed circles into Santana's back as she heaved. The blonde looked off after Quinn. She could feel that something was wrong with her friends and she didn't like it. She wanted them all to be happy and together and happy.

"What was that all about, San?"

"Nothing. She's having a bad day and taking it out on me." This answer was pretty common for Brittany whenever she asked Santana what was wrong with Quinn.

"Just try not to invoke her. It will only make things worse."

"You mean provoke." Santana smiled up at Brittany. "I'll try but you know me."

"You're a hothead." Brittany said a big smile breaking out across her face. It was a word she had often heard her mother use to describe the Latina when the girl in question wasn't around. The girls walked off the track pinkies locked.

Rachel looked at herself in her locker mirror straightening her hair. She checked her watch again for the umpteenth time, 2:45. She decided she should probably head to the auditorium. All day she had been a ball of nervous energy. Kelley has assured her she would do fine but Rachel wasn't worried about auditioning. She knew her talents were far superior to anyone else's in the school. She was nervous about what taking this part would mean. It wasn't because people would assume who she was; it was because of the context of the story, a gay cheerleader coupled with Rachel's involvement. She wondered if Lucy…Quinn she corrected herself…would suspect she had influenced the plot, an indirect way to out the girl. If Quinn did, Rachel would just tell her the truth. She'd have to believe her.

Rachel walked down the hall, head held high. Aside from being nervous she was also exceedingly excited. She couldn't wait to start working on this play, any play would do for now. Glee club was good for singing but this play would also allow her to practice and hone her acting skills. Not to mention the more activities she could tack onto her resume the better she would look for admissions offices.

She was close to the auditorium, so close, when seemingly from nowhere Santana popped right in front of her path. Brittany stood behind her, her books pressed against her chest.

"Sup Hobbit?" Santana said casually.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this right now, Santana. Can we reschedule your bullying for a later date?" Santana's face broke out into a predatory grin. This girl had some fire. She would love to try and extinguish it.

"What's a matter? You have to go make out with your girlfriend?" She teased referring to Kelley.

"For your information I have an audition. So if you'll excuse me." Rachel started walking again but Santana stepped in her way hands planted on her hips.

"I'm not finished." The taller girl said.

"Well I am. Now please move out of my way." Rachel answered trying to move past her. Santana put her hand on the locker blocking Rachel's path. She stared down at the girl, challenging her. The look seemed to say, 'It's your move now.' However before Rachel could do anything Quinn came down the hallway.

"Brittany, Santana, I've been looking for you guys everywhere." She said, her earlier altercation with the Latina forgotten. As she walked closer she noticed how tense the situation was and who Santana was talking to.

"What's going on here?" She asked.

"Just having a friendly chit-chat with Berry." Santana said sarcastically, her eyes never leaving Rachel's.

"Leave her alone, Santana." Quinn said, the authority from cheerleading practice back in her voice. Santana's eyes turned to Quinn curiously. As long as Santana had known Quinn she had never defended anyone but herself. Quinn could practically hear the wheels turning in Santana's head trying to figure out Quinn's motives for coming to Rachel's aid instead of joining her friend. "We need to stick together now. We're all on the same team." Quinn continued referring to Glee club. She had no idea that statement had a much deeper meaning.

"Hey Rach you struck me as the girl who arrived early so I thought I should come look for you." Kelley said as she rounded the corner into the hallway. When she realized who Rachel was talking to, she went to stand by the shorter girl's side.

"Are they bothering you?" Kelley asked alternating glares between Santana and Quinn.

"No." Rachel answered and cast a look in Quinn's direction that the girl couldn't decipher as she moved back from Santana and started walking down the hallway. Kelley glared once more at the two girls and followed Rachel.

The three cheerleaders stood watching the other two girls retreat.

"Isn't she just the knight in shining armor coming to save her girlfriend in distress." Santana commented sarcastically.

"Shut up, Santana." Quinn said halfheartedly. She watched Rachel until she disappeared around the corner.

"I know you don't like to see sweet lady kisses in your school, Q, but Rachel and Kelley would be really adorable together." Brittany said finally rejoining the conversation. Quinn quirked her eyebrow at the phrase and then cringed at the mental image. She shook her head and her mask dropped back into place.

"Whatever, I don't care what they do. Are we going to my house to do homework or what?" She started walking toward the exit without waiting to see if Santana and Brittany were following. The two Cheerios linked pinkies and trailed behind their friend giving her enough space to get through whatever mood swing she was going through.

Back in the auditorium Kelley and Rachel sat in the seats.

"Still think Quinn Fabray doesn't seem so bad?" Kelley asked.

"She wasn't doing anything wrong. In fact she tried to stop Santana." Rachel defended.

"Of course she did." Kelley rolled her eyes. "Now she seems like the good guy so the next time something bad happens to you like another slushy in the face you won't suspect it was her. It couldn't be little miss innocent Quinn Fabray." She finished sardonically.

Rachel was taken back by Kelley's little tirade. "Why do you hate her so much?"

"She hates me." Kelley said as if that was the most obvious reason in the world.

"That doesn't mean you have to hate her. You're supposed to love thy enemy."

"That has to be the first time I've ever heard a lesbian reference the bible in a positive way." She smirked at Rachel. "Just trust me. I've been here a lot longer than you so you have to believe me when I say people like us should stay away from people like her."

'People like us, people like her' Rachel thought. Her head was swimming. What did Kelley mean? Gay people should stay away from straight people? Popular people should stay away from unpopular people? Weren't they all just people trying to get through the same awful experience that was high school or were they really so fundamentally different that they had to avoid each other? Rachel sure didn't believe that. She didn't know but she sensed there was more to the story between Kelley and Quinn and she wanted to know immediately but Kelley was done talking about it.

"So what song did you prepare for today?" Kelley asked.

"Defying gravity from Wicked."

"Perfect." Kelley smiled.

During Rachel's performance Kelley was captivated by the girl. Tina had told her Rachel was good but good wasn't good enough to describe her. Kelley didn't think any word was. She was surprised such a powerful voice could come out of such a tiny girl. At the end of the song Kelley stood up and clapped along with some of the other kids involved with the play. Rachel stood on stage and soaked in the feeling. She could live on it alone. Then she imagined having a sold out show giving her a standing ovation and the feeling multiplied by about a hundred and she beamed. Kelley motioned Rachel over with her hand.

"So you have the part." Kelley said. Rachel knew she would get it.

"Don't you have to listen to the other auditions before making a final decision?"

Kelley blushed slightly at the question. "Actually there are no other auditions for this part."

"So I get it by default?" Rachel questioned. That was almost unacceptable.

"Technically. But even if the whole school auditioned you would get it."

"So if no one wanted _this_ part then who's playing my love interest?"

"No one yet. We haven't had anyone interested in that part either. If no one comes forward for it by the end of next week I'll be playing the part." Kelley answered blushing again somewhat embarrassed. Maybe she was getting in over her head. She wrote this, she was directing it, and she might have to act in it as well.

"You can sing?" Rachel asked shocked.

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Kelley said in mock offense. Rachel lowered her eyes to the ground in apology. "Not as well as you but I can hold my own. It's not the singing that would scare me; it's the acting like a cheerleader." Kelley shuddered in mock terror at the idea. "But I am a woman of many talents and this play is my baby. Whatever it takes I'm going to do to have it premiere."

Rachel admired her passion. It was the same way she felt about singing and performing. It didn't matter how much work it took or how many obstacles were placed in her way she would be on stage.

"So since it's a very real possibility that I will be playing your love interest perhaps we should get to know each other better?" Kelley asked a twinkle in her eyes.

"Don't you think that during all the rehearsals we'll get to know each other plenty?" Rachel teased.

"Yes but I'll be getting to know you more as your character and how you are at 'work.' I want to get to know you as Rachel on a personal level."

It was Rachel's turn to blush thinking just how personal they could get. "I suppose that's a fair argument."

"So Friday then? I'll pick you up at seven?"

Rachel put her finger on her chin pretending to mull it over; then she squealed in excitement dropping the act. "Okay it's a date."

Kelley chuckled at the adorableness of the girl. "Cool so I have to get to work. I'll see you tomorrow." Kelley said as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

Rachel still stood there. "Wait. What are we going to do on Friday?"

Kelley turned around in the doorway. "That's a surprise."

"I don't do well with surprises."

"Yeah I probably could've guessed that but I'm still not telling you."

Rachel fought the urge to stomp her foot and whine her next question. "How will I know what to wear?"

"I'm sure anything you pick will be appropriate. We're not traveling to the Antarctic or going deep-sea diving or anything extreme. Rachel, just relax." Kelley smiled across the room at the tiny diva.

Rachel took a deep breath. "Fine. I guess I'll have to trust you."

"That would be a good first step." Kelley flashed another charming smile and left.

That night at dinner at the Berry household Rachel's fathers asked how her audition went.

"Something incredible happened." Rachel stated happily.

"You got the part?" Leroy asked.

"Well obviously daddy but that's not the incredible part."

"That Fabray girl came to her senses and stopped denying who she is." Hiram suggested bitterly. Rachel had told them about her encounter with Lucy/Quinn. She was close to her fathers; she told them practically everything. They were her most constant companions and when something as big as bumping into her only childhood friend happened she had to share. She needed help working through it. Hiram had been upset that she had hurt Rachel and slightly hurt himself. Leroy had been a little more understanding towards Quinn. He remembered that day when Russell Fabray came to take back his daughter. He couldn't imagine what a toll it would take on a person growing up around that.

In his house homosexuality simply wasn't talked about. He had only realized he was gay at eighteen when he was away at college and had met Hiram. When he told his parents at twenty-two, they disowned him. Leroy had been determined to make it through college before letting them know. He never in a million years thought they would do what they did but he wanted to be prepared nonetheless. He hadn't seen nor talked to them since and that was bad enough but he felt Quinn was suffering from a worse fate. At sixteen and still in high school she didn't have too many options. At least he had gotten away from the hate, Quinn was forced to live with it day in and day out.

Hiram's parents never approved of who he was but they did it in a quiet manner. They never made discriminatory or hostile comments about his "lifestyle" as people liked to call it. They had even had dinners with Leroy and been more than civil, not to mention they adored Rachel. So Leroy felt bad for the Quinn. She was stuck in an awful place.

"No dad but she did stop a cheerleader from being mean to me so I guess we'll call that progress. The incredible part is that I have a date on Friday." Rachel answered beaming and Hiram squealed and Leroy smiled so wide it practically reached both ears. It was their baby girl's first real date.

"With who?"

"With whom, daddy." Rachel corrected and the man rolled his eyes. "And it's with Kelley, the girl who wrote the play I auditioned for."

"She wrote a play? I like her already." Hiram said.

The three Berrys spent the rest of dinner discussing their favorite plays and where they thought Kelley would take Rachel and what they would do.

'Are they bothering you?' Kelley's words from earlier echoed in Quinn's head. She thought Rachel needed protection. Quinn thought about Santana staring down at the tiny brunette and okay yeah maybe Rachel did need some protection but Kelley thought Rachel needed protection from her. That was unacceptable. She didn't want to be Rachel's bully, Rachel's archenemy, she didn't even want to be Rachel's friend. She didn't want to be Rachel's anything. They merely existed in the same school. So did a lot of people and they never had to interact during their time there.

So what if they were both in glee club? Quinn loved to dance and Rachel lived for singing. They could perform together and keep the talking to a minimum and outside of glee they never even had to interact. Quinn thought their conversation in the bathroom had made that clear to the girl. As for Santana, Quinn hoped the Latina would listen to her about sticking together for the sake of glee club and leave Rachel alone. If Santana didn't, Quinn would have to take further action to stop her she just didn't know what yet.

Then there was Kelley, Kelley coming to Rachel's aid, Kelley and Rachel together. Were they together? Would they get together? Did Kelley talk about Quinn? What would Rachel think? Quinn shook her head trying to clear it of the questions that were piling up. None of that mattered Quinn told herself. Kelley and Rachel could do whatever they wanted. It didn't affect Quinn one way or another. Then why did she feel…nothing she told herself. She felt nothing about it. Her head was pounding. It was as if a war was going on in there. All her thoughts were battling trying to get her attention. She didn't want to think anymore. She picked up her cellphone and dialed a familiar number. She had three missed calls from it.

"Hey baby." She purred when the boy picked up.

"Baby?" Finn questioned confused. Quinn laughed demurely.

"Can't a girlfriend use pet names for her boyfriend?"

"Umm sure." It was true they were 'boyfriend and girlfriend' and they did go out sometimes but not as much as Finn expected to. The blonde was kind of…what's the word he was looking for…distant but he shrugged. She was the most popular girl in school also the hottest. He was more than happy just to follow her lead.

"So what are we doing Friday night?" Quinn asked.

"Friday night?" Finn echoed and Quinn rolled her eyes. Sometimes talking to him was exhausting.

"Yeah it's like the official date night for high school students. We should go out and do something."

"Oh yeah cool. Umm I'll think of something fun."

"You better." Quinn teased lightly but seriously she thought he better. The last date they had went on Finn had brought her to a Nascar race. Three hours into watching the cars go round and round and Quinn was practically bored to tears. Not to mention some guy spilled not one but two beers on her. She thought maybe she should plan the date activities after that but decided that was really more of the man's job.

Quinn ended the call and sighed. She had a date with her boyfriend on Friday night. It sounded nice and normal. Then why wasn't she excited? No she practically screamed in her head, no more thoughts, no more overanalyzing. She had had enough for the day. She grabbed her sneakers and laced them up. A jog would clear her head.


	11. First Date

**this took longer than i thought to update. i had most of it written for a while but then i was busy with work. anyway here it is thanks to an unexpected day off and some inspiring music from ****seether, blink 182, and fall out boy. thanks to everyone still sticking with this and taking time to read and review. **

"Sneakers, flats, heels? What do I wear with this outfit?" Rachel asked her fathers who were standing in her bedroom doorway. "What if there's a lot of walking involved? I shouldn't wear heels then. But sneakers don't really go with this outfit. I think they're too casual anyway. So that leaves flats. What do you guys think about flats?" She turned to her dads a sneaker in one hand and a flat in the other. Leroy turned to his husband as if to say 'you want to take this one.' He had dealt with the ordeal of picking out an outfit. Rachel finally had settled on the sixth one she tried on. Leroy couldn't even count the ones she had laid out but not tried on.

"Flats definitely work honey. They're half casual half dressy. Right in between sneakers and heels and perfect for whatever Kelley has planned, I'm sure." Hiram stated. Rachel nodded her head sagely in agreement. Just as she sat down to put the shoes on the doorbell rang and Rachel froze. Her eyes went wide as she looked back up at her dads. They looked at each other. "I'll get it." They both said and took off towards the front door. Rachel stood up and smoothed down her sweater. She grabbed her purse and looked at herself in the mirror. "You can do this. You are pretty and smart. You can perform in front of full auditoriums and not leave a dry eye in the house. Your voice moves people. You move people. Kelley likes you. She likes you so much she asked you out on a date. You're going to have fun just relax." Rachel said to her reflection. She found her pep talks to herself were quite effective although sometimes she wished someone else would give her one. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. It was her first date. It was the first time anyone had been interested in her since Lu…no she didn't want to think about her tonight. Tonight was about Kelley and her and nobody else. Even if Rachel was nervous she could act calm, cool, and collected. Acting was in her blood.

"Rach, Kelley's here." Her daddy called up to her. One last look and in the mirror and Rachel headed downstairs.

Across town Quinn stepped into her closet. She threw a pair of jeans, a tank top, and a cardigan over her shoulder onto her bed. Good enough she thought. She did her makeup and got dressed. She felt no need to try too hard. She was only going out with Finn after all. If she didn't have a reputation to uphold in town she probably would've just settled for a sweatshirt and sweatpants. She turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her butt looked fantastic in these jeans anyway and she smiled satisfactorily. She was hot and she knew it; everybody in town knew it. She had come so far from her Lucy days and it made her feel accomplished. She had set a goal and made it happen and yet she still felt like something was missing. A horn sounded from outside stopping Quinn's thoughts before they could get out of control again. She headed downstairs.

"Isn't your boyfriend ever going to come to the door like a real gentleman?" Russell Fabray asked.

"He would but you scare him Daddy." Quinn chirped and kissed her father on the cheek.

"Well tell him to man up." Russell replied gruffly.

"Oh Dad." She smiled and swatted his arm playfully. If only he knew she had tried a while ago. Finn and Quinn had been sitting in Finn's car.

"Don't you think you should come to the door to pick me up. It's what dates are supposed to do."

"I would but your dad scares me."

"More than I scare you?" Quinn asked putting on her best intimidating face and glaring at the boy next to her.

Finn looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Well…no but…but I…I…I can't deal with more than one Fabray at a time." Finn practically screeched this last part and Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Try to be a man and learn how to." Quinn had responded apathetic to the boy's discomfort but Finn still hadn't come to the door and Quinn hadn't brought it up again. Part of her figured it was better this way. Dealing with Finn and her parents sounded exhausting. There would be all these questions that Finn would struggle to answer and Quinn would have to help and it all just sounded like more effort than it was worth right now. Eventually he would have to meet her parents but that wasn't tonight.

Quinn headed out the door to Finn's car. He puckered up his lips for a greeting kiss and Quinn reluctantly obliged. She turned back to the windshield. "So where are we going?"

"So there's not a whole lot going on in Lima even on a Friday night." Kelley started as they drove toward their destination. "I had tickets for a local performance of West Side Story but it got cancelled at the last minute so I had to resort to plan b.

"Which is?" Rachel prompted.

Kelley just smiled. "Which is hopefully tons of fun." Rachel rolled her eyes and Kelley laughed. "Don't worry. We'll be there soon." Ten minutes later they pulled up to Lima's Lanes and Games.

"We're going bowling?" Rachel asked gleefully. She hadn't been since she was a child. She had never been particularly good nor fond of it but it seemed like such a typical date activity for teenagers and it delighted Rachel at how normal it all felt.

"We're going bowling." Kelley echoed. "Like I said not a whole lot going on especially for the underage crowd. Besides I'm not half bad at it."

"It's wonderful. Definitely the next best thing to West Side Story."

"I'm glad you think so but the real question isn't whether or not you like bowling. It's whether or not you like losing."

"Oh I don't lose." Rachel said.

"You're good at bowling then?" Kelley asked.

"No but I'm an actress. I can act like I'm good at bowling."

Kelley chuckled at that. "We'll see about that." She offered Rachel her arm. Rachel smiled and slipped her arm through Kelley's and was led inside.

Five minutes later Finn and Quinn pulled up to the same building.

"Bowling?" Quinn said.

"Yeah we went a while ago with Puck and Santana and you seemed to have a good time." Finn said proudly hoping Quinn would think he remembered she liked it. He had actually called Santana last night for ideas and this is what the girl had given him. He waited for some sign of excitement from the girl sitting next to him but Quinn merely nodded her head unfazed and got out of the car. Finn slumped back into his seat then shrugged. At least she didn't yell at him. He got out of the car and followed behind Quinn into the building.

Rachel scrunched up her nose in slight disgust as she slipped on the rental shoes.

"You're positive they clean these after every use?" She asked Kelley.

"Yes I'm positive. It's a law in bowling alleys. Besides you're using children's shoes and children don't have a lot of foot fungi. We should be more worried about me using some dude's nasty shoes." Kelley rationalized. Rachel smirked accepting that explanation as she velcroed her shoe.

The bowling alley was packed tonight. After all it was Friday. There were other people who appeared to be on dates, some groups of friends, and some families mostly with younger children. In fact it was so packed that there was only one other alley open and it was right next to Kelley and Rachel's. Rachel was looking around waiting for Kelley to finish tying up her shoes when she saw the screen next to theirs start to change. Two strings to keep score were set up along with two names, Finn and Quinn. "No way." Rachel muttered to herself but Kelley heard. "What's the matter?" She asked and then followed Rachel eyes. "You've got to be kidding me." She said as she too saw the names.

"Oh great." A third voice proclaimed. Kelley and Rachel turned towards the voice and saw the cheerleader standing there with Finn right behind her.

"Hey guys." Finn greeted quietly. He was no expert when it came to girls and he wasn't sure why these three didn't like each other but even he could feel the tension. He was starting to think he shouldn't have listened to Santana. Movies! His head suddenly screamed at him. He should've taken Quinn to the movies. All he would've had to do was watch the screen. There would be minimal talking so there wouldn't be a lot of opportunities for him to say something stupid and with any luck he would have been able to make out with Quinn a little in the dark. So stupid he thought as he trudged over and plopped down in a seat to put his shoes on. Quinn's eyes widened as she saw Finn start to get ready to bowl. He wasn't actually thinking of staying. You couldn't find two people Quinn would rather not be around more than Kelley and Rachel, three if you counted Finn. She walked over to him without looking at either of the other two girls even as she could feel their eyes following her.

"What do you think you're doing? We're not staying." She whispered harshly in his ear.

"They don't refund your money. We have to bowl at least one string." He said without looking at her. He was scared of what he might see. He finished tying his shoe and stood up. "Hey Rach it looks like me and you are first." He said nodding his head towards the screens. His comment broke the girl from her trance and she finally turned her eyes away from Quinn and looked at Finn. He was offering her a weak smile. She felt bad for the boy. He was caught in the middle of whatever this was between the three of them and he could feel the hostility.

She smiled. "Yes it appears so. I have to warn you though I might embarrass you going head-to-head. As I told my date earlier I don't lose."

"Really?" He chuckled good-naturedly. At least someone was helping him make the situation less awkward. And Quinn, Quinn could've smacked herself in the head or better yet smacked the boy now smiling at Rachel. Every time he opened his mouth he became closer and closer to turning this into a double date and that was just not acceptable to Quinn.

"Well when I was younger, I played in a league so…" Finn trailed off as he strutted to the lane and picked up a ball. He rolled his first one and it hit dead center knocking down eight of the ten pins. He turned to Rachel and shrugged as if saying told you so. The second one knocked down the remaining two earning Finn a spare. He looked at Rachel and smiled. "Good luck." He said as the pins were set up for his second round.

Kelley had watched the whole exchange and smiled. Maybe tonight could actually be fun. She looked over at Quinn again and saw the girl looked just as pissed if not more. Maybe she would just have to ignore her. Kelley stepped up behind Rachel.

"Need a few pointers?"

"Yes please."

"Don't roll the ball from a stationary position, get a moving start and if the ball's too heavy to throw with one hand use two like the little children." She smirked at the shorter girl.

"You know that's two cracks about how I look childlike."

Kelley let her eyes scan over Rachel's body. "You definitely don't look childlike." Rachel could feel her face blush. "You're just so tiny." Kelley said. Usually when someone made a comment about Rachel being small she took offense. She may have been tiny but there were big things inside, a big voice, a big heart. But the way Kelley said it, it was almost reverent and Rachel found she liked the way it sounded.

Kelley and Rachel were so focused on each other that neither one noticed that Quinn was now pissed but for a whole different reason. She had watched the exchange, had watched the way Kelley looked at Rachel and wanted to smack her. 'No one was allowed to look at her like that no one but…' Quinn's thoughts trailed off as Rachel squealed with delight, her ball had knocked down half the pins. Quinn realized she was now standing up her fists clenched by her side. She shook her head and tried to untense her body. She felt like she was going crazy.

Finn walked back to Quinn and was happy to see her up. He assumed she was getting ready for her turn. "You're up babe."

Quinn sashayed down to the alley and was pretty sure she felt more than just the three sets of eyes turn to watch her. She exaggerated the sway of her hips. Quinn knew what she was doing. Kelley cleared her throat and went back to bowling her string. Rachel sat down and tried to focus on her date but more than once caught herself glancing over at Quinn. Every move the girl made was graceful and filled with confidence. Her body had the fluidity of a dancer. Rachel wondered if she had stayed in ballet after she had moved. Then she remembered she would get to see the girl dance in glee club and she was excited by the thought.

After a few more rounds Finn decided he needed a plate of nachos to keep up his energy and maintain his lead. He asked Kelley to come with him to get drinks for the four of them. The girl looked torn she knew Rachel and Quinn wouldn't want to be left alone together and she knew she didn't want to leave them alone together but she also knew there was no good excuse for not going without pointing out the awkwardness of this evening, which wasn't an option. She reluctantly got up and followed the boy. Quinn and Rachel watched their dates until they disappeared in the crowd of people. After that they sat there in painful silence only the noises of the alley to ease it. Rachel tried not to look at Quinn but failed more than once. The girl was sitting perfectly still like a statue staring at the ground while Rachel fidgeted and played with her hands. She couldn't take it anymore. "Quinn" she said and the word brought the other girl back to life. Quinn jumped up from her seat and said "Bathroom" then took off.

Over at the snack bar Finn and Kelley were waiting for their order.

"Hey I'm going to head to the bathroom. You think you can handle this until I get back?" Kelley asked.

"Yeah I think it'll be a little longer anyway."

In the bathroom Quinn was washing her hands in ice-cold water. It felt too hot in here, too small, too claustrophobic. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Just a little longer." She promised herself. Then the date would be over and this was definitely the last one she let Finn plan. She heard the door open and got ready to make her exit when she came face-to-face with Kelley.

"This night just keeps getting better and better." She grinned sardonically.

"It's actually wouldn't be that bad if you'd stop being such an uptight bitch." Kelley deadpanned.

"Actually I think it would be better if you were far far away."

"Right cause I'm the root of all your problems."

"No just some." Quinn smiled sweetly.

"I think you have that backwards." Kelley said stepping closer to Quinn.

"You almost ruined my life." Quinn stood her ground.

"So you intentionally tried to ruin mine."

"Seemed fair to me." They stood there practically nose-to-nose staring each other down. Then Kelley stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Whatever. I'd love to stay here and waste more time with you but I have a pretty girl waiting for me." She fixed her curls. Just as she was about to leave Quinn spoke again.

"Don't…" Quinn started and stopped. What did she want to say? Don't look at Rachel. Don't touch Rachel. Don't be with Rachel. She knew she had no right to say any of those things yet she wanted to say them. "Don't hurt her." She finally decided on. If she was feeling really honest she would've added 'Don't hurt her because I think I have enough.' But that would've been over sharing and the first part alone made her feel vulnerable enough.

Two freshmen girls from McKinley entered the bathroom and stared at the odd scene, the most popular girl in school talking to the school lesbo. Quinn opened the door to leave but before she did she threw one more comment over her shoulder. "And don't let me catch you two making out or doing whatever else nasty little dykes do." Then she left as the two freshmen girls snickered behind their hands.

The whole incident left Kelley feeling slightly confused. That last comment was definitely for the benefit of the immature freshmen but the one before that 'Don't hurt her' what was that all about? Did Quinn care about Rachel? Kelley had noticed the way Rachel had been checking Quinn out but she was willing to ignore that since everyone checked out Quinn. Was there something between the two of them? She shook her head. That was just ridiculous. She noticed the two girls were still staring at her. She stuck her tongue out at them and laughed as they looked offended. It was time to head back out to her date. She could ponder over this encounter later.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Quinn seemed to be less angry although she remained quiet and even let Finn bowl another string. It was still awkward but he talked to Rachel and Kelley and that helped a little.

On the ride home Finn babbled on and on about bowling and how good he had done while Quinn said yeah and mhmm where appropriate while not really paying any attention. He stopped in her driveway and leaned over to kiss her goodnight.

"You're not even going to walk me to the door." Quinn huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Scared of your dad remember." Finn smiled sheepishly.

"You wouldn't have to come in."

"Can't risk it." Finn kissed her. "Goodnight babe."

"Night." Quinn muttered as she walked up to her house alone.

In a different car Kelley and Rachel talked happily about their date. Kelley had won and said they would just have to do it again so Rachel could practice and beat her. When they got to the Berry residence, Kelley walked Rachel up to her front door.

"Tonight was really fun." Rachel said.

"I'm glad you thought so." Kelley smiled and reached out a hand to tilt Rachel's face up. Rachel closed her eyes and felt Kelley's lips press softly against her own. She reached one hand up and tangled it in Kelley's curls to bring the taller girl's mouth closer still. She nipped at the girl's bottom lip and smiled at the moan that escaped Kelley's mouth. The porch light start flicking on and off and the two girls parted.

"Wow." Kelley said.

"Yeah." Rachel agreed.

"I'll call you later."

"Goodnight."

Rachel entered her home and saw her two fathers waiting for her on the couch. She told them all about her date including Quinn and Finn being there. Hiram absolutely loved this part. He loved dramatics and this sounded like something right out of a novel. Of all the places and times to go they were there when Kelley and Rachel were. It was perfect he decided. Rachel told him it wasn't so much perfect as painful but they still managed to have a good time.

"So do you like Kelley?" Leroy asked.

"I think so. She's fun, intelligent, creative, and cute. What's not to like?" Hiram and Leroy watched their daughter as she spoke. She was saying all nice things but it wasn't like the way she used to talk about Lucy. Her face would light up and she would be so excited like when she talked about Broadway. This was too tame in comparison. They decided not to mention it though considering it was only their first date.

Alone in bed that night Rachel thought the same thing as her fathers. Kelley was great but there was something missing. The kiss was good. It felt nice but she didn't feel the same tingles she had when she kissed Lucy. Maybe it was because she had known Lucy longer before they kissed and they had already been good friends? She didn't know but it was too early to write Kelley off as a potential girlfriend. It was only their first date after all.

**so who feels bad for finn? i know i do at this point. got some tension building up between quinn and kelley maybe there will be more revealing of what happened between the two of them...any guesses? if anyone gets it right there might be a catfight between them in the future (there might be one anyway cause that sounds fun)**


End file.
